Onondaga County voters might see their county legislative districts change yet again after a judge ordered the maps redrawn. The settlement ends a nearly three-year court battle, but not the ongoing debate over how to draw district lines.
Democrats on the county legislature and others filed the lawsuit in 2022 claiming the maps drawn by Republicans violated state and federal laws by disenfranchising minority voters and breaking up communities. The judge didn’t rule on those arguments. Instead, he determined the maps were inaccurate because they didn’t include 1,600 incarcerated people with a residence in the county. Plaintiff’s attorney Ronnie White, Jr. says the process is still flawed.
“While we did settle this lawsuit on the basis of a population deviation, the process that was alleged to have followed was not the process that had that was supposed to be," White said. "Those maps were drawn by members of the county executive’s office, members who were not skilled at drawing maps. Their only goal was to enlarge the Republican partisan advantage that currently existed.”
The legislature’s Democratic Floor Leader Chris Ryan was the lead plaintiff.
“If I had my way, none of us would be doing these maps," Ryan said. “We would have an independent redistricting commission, where citizens who care about the committee draw maps. I don't think I should be involved or any elected official on the county legislature should not be involved in that.”
But Ryan’s previous attempt to change the county charter and create an independent commission failed along party lines. He says the redistricting process should start from scratch, but GOP legislature chairman Tim Burtis says only minor alterations are needed.
“We were contiguous and we were compact. We had Republicans represented, we had Democrats represented, and the court didn't say that we did anything wrong," Burtis said. "If we are very close, which is my understanding, then let's work hard to fix it right here, right now.”
The maps are slated to be in place for the 2025 election season, but it’s not clear if both sides can agree on a process, let alone a final product.
