New York’s proposed congressional map was drawn “to discourage competition and favor Democrats,” violating the state’s ban on partisan gerrymandering, a mid-level appeals court ruled Thursday.

The decision by the five-judge panel was split 3-2, with the majority writing they were “satisfied that petitioners established beyond a reasonable doubt that the Legislature acted with partisan intent.”

In the opinion, the judges noted that “democratic leaders in the legislature drafted the 2022 congressional redistricting map without any Republican input, and the map was adopted by the legislature without a single Republican vote in favor of it.”

The judges also noted that “under the 2012 congressional map there were 19 elected Democrats and 8 elected Republicans and under the 2022 congressional map there were 22 democrat-majority and 4 Republican-majority districts.”

Those two points were not enough by themselves to constitute proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but those points couple with testimony of RealClearPolitics senior elections analyst Sean Trende “confirmed the inference from the above two points that the legislature engaged in unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering when enacting the 2022 congressional map.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul and other top Democrats are expected to appeal the decision to the state’s highest court, the New York Court of Appeals. Oral arguments could begin as soon as next week.

If upheld, the newly drawn district lines would not be used in November’s midterm elections.

Politico reported that the court’s decision was “a partially victory for Democrats,” as the judges determined that the process lawmakers used to enact the maps was constitutional and that the new districts  for state legislators were properly drawn.

“We are pleased the Court upheld the legislature’s process and the right for the legislature to enact these maps,” state Senate Democratic spokesperson Mike Murphy said in a statement. “The newly-drawn Senate and Assembly maps are now valid. We always knew this case would end at the Court of Appeals and look forward to being heard on our appeal to uphold the Congressional map as well.”

Outside of New York, courts have blocked maps gerrymandered by Republicans in North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania and gerrymandered by Democrats in Maryland, according to WNBC. As a result, primaries were delayed in North Carolina, Ohio, and Maryland.

The post NY Court Tosses 2022 Redistricting Map, Ruling It Illegally Favored Democrats first appeared on Mediaite.

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