LatinoJustice Calls for the Appointment of a Latino Representative to New York’s Independent Redistricting Commission
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 Independent Redistricting Commission
New York, NY – LatinoJustice PRDLEF in March 2020 sent a letter seeking 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, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Assembly Minority Leader William A. Barclay, as well as to the Eight Members who have already been appointed to the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission. The Independent Redistricting Commission still has two open seats, which will be voted upon by the current Members. Below is a statement from Jorge Luis Vásquez 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 incomprehensible how New York’s legislative leadership have failed to appoint a Latino to New York’s newly created Independent Redistricting Commission to date, given that nearly 4-million Latinos live in New York and Latinos constitute the largest minority voting bloc in the state. 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 to the Commission in order 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 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.