Your county league has been actively involved in the redistricting process in Nassau County. On Monday Feb. 25th at 1pm at the Nassau County Legislature Building at Franklin Avenue and Old Country Road, the legislature will vote on a redistricting map creating 19 new legislative districts that will be with us for the next ten years.
The map to be voted on which came out of the Rules Committee after a party line vote will move well over 300,000 residents to new districts, many communities with be divided: the Five Towns will be split into four districts, the Village of Hempstead into three districts spanning from Garden City to Bethpage, and Roslyn will be split into four districts.
The 2010 census data does not make it necessary to do this drawing of the lines and the people of Nassau County need to be asking why are the Republicans doing this????
It appears to many that the real reason for the changes referenced above is to “pack” some districts with as many registered members of the opposition party as possible, to keep them contained within a limited number of districts, and to “crack” other districts, so that the voting power for the opposition party in those districts is limited. Packing and cracking have long been used to “gerrymander” voting districts. It is discouraging, disconcerting and demoralizing to see it happening to this extent in Nassau County.
Good government groups throughout the country have long fought against using these practices. Are they illegal? No. Are they in the best interest of the people? Also, no. It is time our government followed the essence of the law, instead of just the letter of the law.
The Nassau County league is part of a coalition, called the Nassau United Redistricting Coalition, advocating for a fair and transparent process. On it’s website, NassauUnitedRedistricting.org, you will find detailed information about the proposed Republican map to be voted upon plus additional information on the process to date.
Look for yourself, come to the legislature meeting on the 25th, contact your Republican and/or Democratic legislator and County Executive Mangano—-all are up for election in November and they want your vote.
This is what league is all about: ADVOCACY Spread the word!
