Thank you for everything all of you did this fall to register voters, distribute voters guides, organize Vote 411 and hold candidate forums for the general election. We also very much appreciate your help and support in our successful effort to pass Proposal 1 on the ballot, reforming how redistricting is done in this state. The League and Citizens Union issued the following statement after Election Day:
“We are pleased that voters seized this once in a fifty-year opportunity to fix our state’s rigged redistricting process and end the practice of drawing districts to favor incumbents, protect majority party control, and discourage.
The constitution now guarantees New Yorkers fair redistricting rules and the ability to hold the legislature accountable to end partisan gerrymandering. It is a real change from the system we have now, and we look forward to following this enacted reform through to reality in 2021, when the time comes again to draw new state legislative and congressional districts that will bring fair and competitive elections back to New York State.”
I believe that this joint effort by the state League and local Leagues exemplified what is best about the League and our truly nonpartisan approach to making elections work and protecting voters. I was also very pleased that we were supported in this effort by the national League and the state League in Florida, another state in which the League has been and continues to be a leader in redistricting reform.