New Yorkers cast their ballots at a voting center in Brooklyn on Nov. 2, 2021. Photo: Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images
A Republican-led group of voters on Thursday filed a lawsuit claiming New York's newly drawn congressional maps are unconstitutional.
Driving the news: The lawsuit claims that the new district lines did not follow the state constitution’s process outlining redistricting requirements and therefore "the congressional map is entirely void," according to court filings.
- The lawsuit, which was brought by a group of 14 voters, also states that the court should reject the map "as a matter of substance, as the map is an obviously unconstitutional partisan and incumbent-protection gerrymander."
- The New York Democratic Party did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment.
The big picture: The lawsuit, filed Thursday, came one day after Democratic lawmakers in New York adopted an aggressive reconfiguration of the state’s congressional districts that could help give Democrats three House seats.
- The New York map is the largest projected shift in any state, according to the New York Times.
State of play: The lawsuit faces a tough path forward, the New York Times writes, as state courts have not typically rejected maps drawn by lawmakers.
- But the lawsuit was filed in the state Supreme Court in Steuben County, a Republican stronghold, where the court might be more likely to side with claims of Democratic political gerrymandering.
What they're saying: "The Democratic Party politicians who control the New York Legislature and Governor’s office brazenly enacted a congressional map that is undeniably politically gerrymandered in their party’s favor," according to the lawsuit.
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