Courts Step In On Stalled Partisan-Legislative-Driven New York Redistricting Process

NEW YORK REDISTRICTING

• Common Cause reacts to new congressional maps (Chris Morris, Adirondack Daily Enterprise) "The map is a stark departure from the Legislature's gerrymandered version to produce a far better result, demonstrating beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there is in fact no practical impediment to drawing fair maps, only a political one," Lerner said.
• 2016 Frontrunners Diverge on Redistricting (By Joshua Miller, Roll Call) “There will be national electeds who remember that he, at the height of his power, had the ability to step in and get a map done [for Democrats] and didn’t,” one New York Democratic operative said with more than a touch of frustration.
• Court Finalizes New York's Congressional Districts  (By Jill Colvin, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer) The judges' map rejected a proposal for a new majority Latino district in Upper Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens, meaning that State Sen. Adriano Espaillat will be likely pitted against long-time Harlem leader, Rep. Charles Rangel instead of running in a separate contest.
• Congressman Grimm Praises New York's Redistricting Process (By: NY1 News Staten Island) The Brooklyn and Staten Island representative calls the process a home run for his district, saying the new lines make it slightly stronger on the Republican side.
  
• Gov. Cuomo Succumbs (NY Times Editorial) Despite repeated promises that he would veto gerrymandered districts drawn by legislators, the governor broke that vow and quietly signed the law that will allow unfair legislative elections in New York for the next 10 years. By approving the Legislature's districts, he has now made it far more difficult for the courts to revise these defective maps. 
• In 'The New York Times,' Cuomo's redistricting commission loses its independence (By Azi Paybarah, Capital NY) In a video message to New Yorkers that Cuomo posted online yesterday, the governor essentially claimed victory on five different fronts, including pensions, teacher evaluations, casino legalization and the expansion of a DNA database.
• Cuomo on the sequel to the bad old redistricting movie (By Josh Benson, Capital NY) Cuomo: "And ultimately, the legislators drew their own lines once again. And it was all legal, provided for in our constitution. If I had vetoed the lines this year, as some suggested, a court would have passed them. And from past experience, I believe the lines would have been substantially the same."
• Cuomo amendment ends Albany gerrymandering as we know it - Future districts to be drawn by commission, not lawmakers (NEW YORK DAILY NEWS) The same pols who downsized Gov. Cuomo’s pension reforms were even more incorrigible when it came to gerrymandering. Cuomo joined government watchdogs in rightly pushing for an independent panel to set district lines based on the 2010 census — to prevent legislative bosses from shamefully manipulating the mapmaking for partisan gain. But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos turned deaf ears — conspiring behind closed doors to draw the ugliest, most gerrymandered and unequal districts Albany has ever seen, especially for the Senate. The saving grace is that Cuomo leveraged his veto threat to win a permanent, landmark fix for this badly broken process.

NEW YORK SENATE

• Dems & WFP For Gilly; Conservatives For Long (BY Celeste Katz, Daily News/ Daily Politics) Gillibrand will also appear on the WFP line -- Row D -- in the November contest, and previously picked up the endorsement of the Independence Party.
  
  
   

Arizona, New York: Where is the Independent Redistricting?

INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING

• New York voters want independent redistricting: Quinnipiac (By Colby Hamilton, WNYC) According to the poll, 48 percent said they wanted a completely independent commission drawing lines, while 28 percent said one with some legislative input was prefered.
• Brewer Takes Aim at Indepedent Redistricting Commission (Posted by Jim Nintzel, Tucson Weekly) Time is also running out for these maps to be completed, since they still need approval from the U.S. Justice Department before the 2012 election season can begin. Does the process start all over, or does the GOP have some sort of maps that they'd like to just thrust onto the IRC for rubber-stamping?

Victory for Independents in South Carolina: They Will Have a Say in Closed Primary Hearlings

Some light in what has been a dark week for indies with the losses in Idaho and Massachusetts. Attorney Harry Kresky and former Democratic state legislator Fletcher Smith pushed for independents and had a court grant them a hearing to discuss closed primaries. They argued on the grounds that the GOP does not have the right to require voters to join a party.

SOUTH CAROLINA GRANTS INDEPENDENTS A SAY IN HEARING ON CLOSED PRIMARY

GOP gets expedited hearing on primary (BY ERIC CONNOR, Greenville Online) The independents – represented by New York lawyer Harry Kresky and former Greenville Democratic state legislator Fletcher Smith – said in court filings that the Republicans don't have the right to require voters to join a party or “declare themselves non-aligned.” The independents cite “the new, but growing, phenomena of significant numbers of Americans self-identifying as independents ... and the pivotal role they played in the recent presidential primaries.”

IDAHO CLOSING PRIMARIES

Idaho GOP May Allow Independents To Vote In Primaries (Jessica Robinson, KUOW.org) There's still a chance Idaho could maintain its open primary, if the state appeals. Alternatively, a coalition of independent voters says it may pursue a top-two system.

NEW YORK REDISTRICTING

Lobbyists join redistricting in N.Y. (By: Maggie Haberman, Politico) This year, there’s more pressure than usual for an open and nonpartisan process, after former Mayor Ed Koch’s group solicited signed pledges from an overwhelming number of state lawmakers and a promise from Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo to make it happen. Cuomo has introduced a bill to create an independent redistricting commission, though state Senate Republicans have so far given signals that they may not be on board, adding to the uncertainty.

Democracy in Egypt & America - the Beat Goes On

KRESKY LATEST ARTICLE

• Democracy and the Institutions of Democracy (Harry Kresky, Huffington Post) Significantly, the first institution the pundits call for in Egypt is political parties. But here in America the people are fed up with the role the parties are playing in our democracy.

ALSO IN THE NEWS:
There is a new mayor in Chicago, as Rahm Emanuel beat out six other candidates with 55 percent of the vote in a tactically perfect campaign.


Independents in Arizona are making politics difficult in The Grand Canyon State with a whopping 31.7 of total indies there; being responsible for a large chunk of the 7.5 percent dip for the GOP and 6.8 percent for the dems since 2001.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Editorial: Politics getting more difficult (The Daily Courier) One thing is for certain: with more and more people abandoning the Republican and Democratic parties for independent status, it makes the job of the well-known parties that much more difficult.
• Make U.S. Politics Safe for Moderates (William A. Galston, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies; Elaine Kamarck, Public Policy Lecturer, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University - BROOKINGS) The primary electorate is a small, unrepresentative portion of the overall electorate. In the highly visible 2010 election season, for example, only 7.5 percent of all voting-age Americans took part in congressional primaries — actually higher than in past years. This primary electorate is dominated by the parties’ base voters — which is not true in general elections. That’s why so many Americans say they are unhappy with their choices in November.
  
• Chicago Votes in Emanuel as Mayor (BY: DAVID CHALIAN AND TERENCE BURLIJ, PBS NewsHour) Galston and Kamarck propose getting rid of the closed primary system, arguing it enables the extremes of both parties to determine the nominees. They instead call for open primaries, or as California now does, one primary for all the candidates, and have the top two finishers, regardless of party affiliation, face off in the general election.

NATIONAL REFORM

• National Popular Vote Plan Pushers Hire New Lobbyists, Bring on Deep-Pocketed Help (By Michael Beckel, Center for Responsive Politics/Open Secrets blog) National Popular Vote's legislative proposal -- which requires a state's electors to cast their votes for the winner of the national popular vote instead of the winner of the state-wide vote -- has been adopted in states representing about a quarter of the Electoral College.

CONNECTICUT

• What It Takes To Be A Registrar - Politics Play Out In Registrar's Office (WFSB Channel 3 Hartford - CNN) "I receive a memo one time that said if a Democrat came into the office, I could not serve that Democratic voter, yet still the office is nonpartisan," she said.

MONTANA

• Supporting bison (By Ilona Popper, LETTER Helena MT Independent Record) Your “party lines” alienate Republicans, Democrats, and independent voters, like me.

NEW YORK

• Our view: Independent redistricting the way to go - AT ISSUE: Tell state lawmakers that ‘gerrymandered’ districts unacceptable (EDITORIAL Utica Observer-Dispatch) For obvious reasons, legislators have never really embraced the idea of independent redistricting, but this time the governor is holding better cards.
• Senate Dems Urge GOP ‘Keep Your Reform Promises’ (John Toscano, Queens Gazette) Gianaris, an ardent advocate of independent redistricting while he served in the Assembly, stated: “For too long, the people of New York have been shut out from unaccountable representation.” He said the enactment of his bill will send a strong message that we hear the calls of a public restless for change and are ready to rise to the occasion.

A Great Divide...

There is a great divide in our country between elected officials and those who put them in office--the voters. In New York and Massachusetts, ordinary citizens voted for non-partisan redistricting 72% and 66% respectively. Yet in Massachusetts, the concept was completely butchered by the state legislature 34-5--makes sense? No...

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Tomblin Comments on Judiciary Committee's Vote Supporting Primary Election (WBOY 12 - West Virginia Media) To not allow for a primary would disenfranchise all independent voters as well as eliminate the opportunity for our military serving overseas to express their choice.”

REDISTRICTING

• Massachusetts Senate rejects implementation of independent redistricting commission (Ballot News) On January 12, 2011, a poll was released showing that 66 percent of Massachusetts residents support putting an independent commission in charge of redistricting. Only 23 percent of respondents said the legislature should continue to be in charge of redistricting.
• New Yorkers strongly disfavor state legislature handling redistricting, according to poll (Empire State News) Support for independent redistricting is strongest, 70 – 21 percent, among independent voters and is over 60 percent among all other groups.
• Back to court - Another questionable question (EDITORIAL Tulsa World - OK) On Monday Clark W. Duffee, an Edmond man who ran for Congress as an independent candidate, filed a lawsuit that argues that the new process stifles the voices of Oklahoma citizens who aren't members of either party, and it does. At last count there are 240,855 registered independent voters in Oklahoma - more than 11 percent of the total.

OBAMA

• Obama gets second chance from independents (By Michael Maslansky, Special to CNN, CNN Opinion) Independents seem willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt. Almost on cue, independents reacted positively at the mention of bipartisanship, so he was wise to fill this speech with examples of government doing what's best for the people, not just what's best for the party.

EDUCATION REFORM

• The politics of Rhee (Ben Smith, Politico) Now Rhee is in the process of a shift from political naif to full-fledged power broker. She has created an emphatically political new organization, StudentsFirst, and she told POLITICO she hopes to raise and spend an astonishing $200 million annually – a large sum even in the deep-pocketed world of education philanthropists.