A state judge has declared that there was no need to rush a redistricting of the Nassau County Legislature to take account of population shifts. “The earliest election for which the new legislative district lines based on the 2010 Census data should be in effect is for the 2013 general election, not the 2011 general election,” Supreme Court Justice Steven M. Jaeger (See Profile) concluded yesterday in Yaturo v. Mangano, 6899-2011.
Seven Democratic legislators had sued to block a Republican redistricting plan that they called “stealth gerrymandering.” The Democrats’ complained that they were not consulted about the plan that would move 40 percent of the county’s voters into different legislative districts. They argued that redistricting has to be discussed by a bipartisan commission and need not be completed until the 2013 general elections. Their lawsuit characterized the Republican redistricting plan as a “blatantly partisan attempt by the respondent members of the Nassau County Legislature to hastily enact a local law with an ill-conceived and rushed redistricting plan.”
