It’s time to end the Justice Department’s review of New York’s redistricting. There were solid grounds for the requirement back in 1971, but no more. Now it’s more of a barrier than a service to civil rights.
Consider: The legislature’s bipartisan task force is set to unveil its new map of congressional districts. Should the plan be passed by both houses and endorsed by Gov. Cuomo, the Justice Department will have 60 days to review (“preclear”) the plan for Voting Rights Act compliance.
That’s a two-month delay before would-be candidates can safely start the petitioning process to get on the ballot for this year’s primaries — making it that much harder to challenge incumbents and/or those favored by the political machines.
New York should use the Voting Rights Act’s “bail-out” provision, and seek a declarative judgment freeing us from the preclearance requirement. The state simply has to certify that during the last 10 years it has not engaged in any practice constituting voter discrimination, has complied with the preclearance rules and faces no pending lawsuits alleging voting discrimination.
Back in 1971, when Manhattan, Brooklyn and The Bronx first became subject to oversight under the VRA, racial and language minorities were not meaningfully participating in elections The City Board of Election required a literacy test that kept many non-English-speaking citizens from voting, and election and ballot materials were available only in English. More than half of the voting-age population either wasn’t registered or failed to vote in the 1968 presidential election.
Today, racial and language minorities in these counties freely participate in elections, and have elected candidates of their choice. The city Boards of Election prints election and ballot materials in English, Spanish and three other languages (at enormous expense).
New York City has elected a black mayor, narrowly missed electing another one in 2009 and elected an Asian American as controller. The covered counties have elected minorities to the borough presidencies, City Council, state Assembly and Senate and to Congress.
Voters in the covered jurisdictions overwhelmingly supported the election of President Obama. And, given the city’s growing “majority-minority” status and the increasing presence of minority state legislators (the number of non-whites elected to the Legislature and Congress has doubled since 1972), it is highly unlikely that New York would backslide.
We must now work to break the silos that institutionalize political, economic and racial marginalization. Progress now requires lifting the preclearance burden and, instead, pursuing race-neutral districts when possible while advancing “communities of interest” where necessary.
I urge our state leaders to declare victory over our past and to apply for relief from Justice Department oversight.