Register And Attend Upcoming Public Hearing On Redistricting

OANA urges residents to both register and attend the upcoming public hearing on redistricting on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, at 3 pm. The meeting will take place at York College (CUNY) Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center located on 94-45 Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, Jamaica. This meeting is one of the numerous other public hearings that will take place across the state of New York. All other upcoming meetings are listed on the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission’s (IRC) official website, which can be found here.

To register for the public hearing occurring on November 17, 2021, you must first login or sign up to an IRC’s account. You can do this by clicking here. You will then be directed to a page where you will specify the date of the hearing. Registrations for the Queens meeting will end on Monday, November 15, 2021.

The redistricting process involves drawing new legislative boundaries for the federal House seat, the state Senate, and Assembly, following the U.S. census. This is done to reflect the changes in the population. The process of drawing new district boundaries ultimately has a huge effect on the outcome of future federal and state congressional elections. The state of New York will lose one seat in Congress in the upcoming mid-term elections due to a drop in population. As a result, the state must draw new district boundaries to reflect the lost one. The challenge of the matter is making these drawings equitable and to make sure residents of the state of New York get equal representation from elected officials.

Members of the commission are working to reach a consensus on what should be the division to more properly represent New York voters. The commission’s role in the redistricting process is to bring a level of impartiality when drawing the boundaries, as partisanship may give way to a division that favors the majority in the legislature.

Currently, two sets of maps are being discussed in the commission, with no agreement having been reached as of yet. The 14 public hearings to be held comes to change this scenario and offer the opportunity to a consensus.

Thiago Oliveira

A Brazilian from birth, I came to the United States to fulfill his dream of completing his undergraduate at an American institution. I am a recent graduate with a pre-Medical curriculum and a B.A. in Politics from New York University. I have extensive knowledge in the fields of comparative politics, international politics, and political theory.