Inkblot districts are visible proof of Albany’s gerrymandering

The New York Daily News editorial investigates the oddly shaped districts in the Senate GOP's redistricting proposal and how they represent the unjustified approach Republicans used to draw district lines.

Do not mistake the nearby shapes for Rorschach inkblots.

They are visible proof of how flagrantly state Senate Republicans distorted the process of redrawing election districts.

The weird outlines also document why Gov. Cuomo must veto the maps.

The Legislature sets new districts every 10 years, after each census. The Assembly, dominated by Democrats, sets boundaries that give decided advantages to Democrats. The Senate’s GOP majority does the same for Republicans. But this time, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos has taken gerrymandering to repugnant lengths in a desperate bid to maintain his razor-thin control.

The state Constitution requires that districts “shall contain as nearly as may be an equal number of inhabitants.”

They should also be “compact” and consist of “contiguous territory.”

These shapes, of proposed Districts 19 and 23, make a mockery of those principles.

Read the full article here.