Cuomo must demand a permanent gerrymandering ban — or else

NY Daily News wrote and article about redistricting, saying that the Governor should enact reform that would put an end to gerrymandering.

Gov. Cuomo holds the ultimate weapon in the battle against gerrymandering — his threatened veto of district maps drawn in ridiculously partisan fashion by the Legislature.

 

He must void the absurd boundaries drawn by the Assembly and Senate and turn map -making over to the courts — except in the unlikely event that lawmakers radically alter their work and establish long-term reforms.

 

As things stand, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s Democrats and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos’ Republicans conspired in drawing districts with grossly uneven populations that maximize incumbent protection.

 

The boundaries are so ridiculous that it’s clear they were drawn to facilitate fake compromises. (Gee, we hadn’t noticed that we mapped Central Park into the South Bronx!)

 

The only scenario that might conceivably justify withholding the veto is reform that ends gerrymandering not just for 10 years, but permanently.

 

Read the full article here.