The Independent View: Judge Seizes NY Congressional Redistricting

A three-judge panel named U.S. Magistrate Roanne Mann as Special Master over New York's Congressional redistricting process during a hearing today, when attorneys representing Democrats who dominate the Assembly and Republicans who hold a bare 1 seat majority in the Senate acknowledged they had no agreement through a joint task force called LATFOR that is tasked with drawing the Congressional lines.

Mann ordered they develop their own proposals by this Wednesday. She will then hear objections on those proposals by Friday and said another hearing would be scheduled sometime early next week.

She has control over Congressional lines but the State's Assembly and Senate lines still have to be drawn and accepted. The Democrats would like her to also take over this process.

David Lewis, counsel for Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Sen. Mike Nozzolio, said the Senate might pass its own Congressional lines. To help Mann get up to speed, the court plans to hire Columbia University Professor Nathaniel Persily as a redistricting expert.

As of now, New York is still in a three primary year that will cost around $50 million each. April 24 is the Presidential Primary, June 26 the Congressional Primary with petitioning beginning March 20, and September 11 is the State Primary. The General Election is November 6.

Now that the Justice Department forced the Congressional Primary date to June, I wonder what could be done to also move the State Primary to the same date. If it stays in September, overseas ballots will not be back in time so they would not be counted.