NYC Districting Commission publishes process primer, releases 2022 5% deviation guide

The Districting Commission has published NYC Districting Commission 101.

This was disclosed in a statement on Tuesday June 21, 2022.

According to the statement, the Commission is responsible for drawing new City Council maps.

The 16-page primer explains this process, from the U.S. Constitution, to the U.S. Census, to the Charter of the City of New York.

The Primer also includes the 2022 Five Percent Deviation Guide Commission mapmakers are using to draw the new 51 City Council maps.

The city’s population grew by 630,000 people since the last 2010 Census for a new total of 8.8 million people under the current census.

Under the one-person, one-vote doctrine of the U.S. Constitution the 51 City Council maps must be redrawn with a new average population of 173,631 residents each.

The Five Percent Deviation Guide shows current deviation of each of the 51 City Council districts from the new average.

For example, one district has a 20.3 percent deviation, while another has a negative 10 percent deviation.

“We’ve had so much interest from the public at our hearings we decided to do more outreach,” said Commission Chair Dennis Walcott.

“Over time, we hope that the primer and deviation guide become tools to encourage New Yorkers to engage in the process, including and especially, submitting their own testimony about the drawing of the 51 new City Council maps.”