Section 2c - Number of Congressional Districts; number of Representatives from each District

1 Analyses of this statute by attorneys

  1. Justin Levitt Before the New York State Bar Association Committee on Attorneys in Public Service

    Brennan Center for JusticeFebruary 11, 2010

    The more a district’s overall shape can be traced to other goals like those reviewed below, the less likely it is that voters’ race will be found to be the impermissibly driving force behind that district’s lines.Where to draw the lines: state lawEven after accounting for the requirements of the Voting Rights Act, there remain countless ways to divide New York into districts of roughly equal population. For Congressional lines, the remaining choices are completely up to the legislature: other than the requirement that each federal district be drawn for a lone Representative, see 2 U.S.C. § 2c, there are no additional limitations under federal or state law on how the lines are to be drawn. For the state legislature, on the other hand, the state constitution provides a few additional constraints governing the legislature’s discretion.