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Nearly 50 local residents rallied in Elmont on Jan. 31 against proposed new state Senate district maps that would move a southern portion of Elmont from District 7 to District 9. According to protesters, the maps are meant to disenfranchise voters, not empower them.
Senate Republicans proposed maps last week that would make several changes to current districts, including reducing six current Democrat-controlled districts in New York City to three primaries, and creating a new 46th Senate District, bringing the total number of seats from 62 to 63.
The 46th District would be located south and west of Albany.
At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, locals rallied against the proposed maps in front of the law office of Legislator Carrié Solages (D-Elmont), located at 1630 Dutch Broadway in Elmont. The protest was organized by the Committee to Veto the District Lines, a group comprised of Elmont civic association leaders, residents and political leaders.
According to the committee, the goal of the protest — and the committee itself — is to urge Gov. Cuomo to veto unfair district lines, and stop the disenfranchising of minority communities. During the rally, protesters demanded that elections be turned to their rightful owners — the voters — and community leaders called the lines an effort to further dilute minority representation and voice in Albany.
“With this proposal, Elmont's vote is split among two different senators, Martins (District 7) and Skelos (District 9)," said Solages, who beat incumbent Republican Legislator John Ciotti in the county Legislature's District 3 race in November, following a months-long judicial battle regarding a redistricting map that was created by Republican legislators.
"We already saw what happened with this last year, with the [Nassau County] Legislature's redistricting maps, and people understood that, and went to the polls in November to show their leaders that they elect them, not visa versa," he said.
