FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 23, 2020

CONTACT: Christiaan Perez, [email protected], 212-739-7581

LatinoJustice Calls for the Appointment of a Latino Representative to New York’s Redistricting Commission

New York, NY – In March 2020, LatinoJustice PRDLEF sent a letter demanding the appointment of a Latino representative in the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission. The letter, linked here, was sent on March 12th to Governor Andrew Cuomo along with Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Assembly Minority Leader William A. Barclay and the Members of the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission. The Redistricting Commission still has open two seats remain open leading to LatinoJustice’s call to action. See below statement from Jorge Luis Vasquez Jr., Associate Counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF:

LatinoJustice continues to work with our community partners to ensure that all Latinos are counted in the 2020 Census. However, we are also preparing for 2021 when districts will be reapportioned based upon Census results. It is inconceivable that a Latino has not yet been appointed to the Redistricting Commission to date, although nearly 4-million Latinos live in New York and Latinos are the largest minority voting bloc in New York and the country must be remedied. New York State has already taken important steps to facilitate and support an accurate count in New York by allocating funds for outreach efforts. However, it is imperative to have a Latino appointed and to have a seat at the table to ensure that the Latino community perspective is part of the redistricting process. Given this glaring oversight, LatinoJustice calls upon Governor Cuomo and NYS’ legislative leadership leaders to exert their bully pulpit influence to ensure a Latino representative is nominated to fill one of the two remaining seats on the Redistricting Commission.