New York's highest court has rejected new congressional maps that had widely been seen as favoring Democrats.
The state's Court of Appeals agreed Wednesday with a group of Republican voters who say that the district boundaries had been unconstitutionally gerrymandered and that the Legislature didn't follow proper procedure in passing the maps.
A lower court had also ruled that the maps were unconstitutional. It had given the Legislature an April 30 deadline to come up with new maps or else leave the task to a court-appointed expert. The court says it will "likely be necessary" to move the congressional and state Senate primary elections from June to August.
Opinion, written by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, said, “Prompt judicial intervention is both necessary and appropriate to guarantee the People’s right to a free and fair election.”