Common Cause Applauds NYC Districting Commission for Online Mapping Tool

For Immediate Release:

Contact: Susan Lerner

September 5, 2012

212-691-6421

Common Cause Applauds NYC Districting Commission for Online Mapping Tool

Common Cause applauds the New York City Districting Commission’s efforts to engage the public by setting up an online interactive mapping tool for voters to use to create their own vision for the New York City Council. Redistricting is a once a decade process designed to reflect demographic changes in the census, and adjust districts according to the real needs of communities of interest. Robust public participation should be a guiding principle of any redistricting process. Redistricting can empower or dis-empower voters with the single stroke of a pen. New York is a city of neighborhoods within neighborhoods and even small changes in district shapes can have large consequences on politics and representation. We encourage voters to take advantage of the online mapping tool and make their voices heard. http://www.nyc.gov/html/dc/html/mapping/mapping.shtml

Background

In the 2011-2012 redistricting process for New York State, Common Cause/NY produced the only set of a non-gerrymandered maps for state and federal office. The maps were made available in an interactive format at UMapNY, hosted by Newsday.com.