The Broome County Legislature voted along party lines to approve a newly redrawn district map this week. The map was proposed after a New York appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling that rejected the legislature’s previous attempt at redrawing its district lines.
Republican legislators voted to approve the map. Democratic legislators opposed the map, arguing it skews districts to favor Republicans. Democrats also argued the redrawing process was rushed after the appeals court decision in late November. The legislature’s redistricting committee voted to approve the map a week ago.
“One week, at Christmas, is not good governance. It's just not," Democratic Legislator Kim Meyers said during the meeting. "There was nothing that said we had to have [the map] by the end of the session. We could have had a special meeting in a week or two weeks and still hit the timeline.”
Republican Legislature Chairman Dan Reynolds argued the process needed to be quick so that voters could know their districts for the 2024 elections.
“If you're going door-to-door and you're trying to get a petition signed for your district, and it's in the wrong [district], they don't count,” Reynolds said. “So we need to be able to make sure that voters know, that candidates know, and they need to be able to decide. It's not just about the people in this room.”
Democratic Legislator Robert Weslar said the new districts vary too much in population.
“It also contains a lot of variety of people. Large plots of land and then urban core together…the neighborhoods aren't similar,” Weslar said. “And that's something that needs to happen, the similarities of housing, of where people live. That's why Whitney Point isn't lumped in with the city of Binghamton.”
During the contentious meeting on Wednesday, the legislature’s last session in 2023, Democratic legislators attempted to push through a different map. But the amendment was voted down by Republicans.
Chairman Reynolds said the map Democratic legislators put forward had uneven population sizes and favored Democrats. He said the legislature redrew their map only using census data, specifically to avoid partisan drawing.
“I feel like the residents of Broome County got a good map. And it’s definitely a legal map and a fair map,” Reynolds said. “And I think, in all honesty, we just need to get to the point where we can let voters know where they're going to be, and who their representatives would potentially be.”
The new map still needs the approval of the county executive. A public hearing will be held before that happens. It has not been scheduled yet.