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No Representation Without Population - End Prison-based Gerrymandering!

The U.S. Census Bureau counts incarcerated people as residents of their place of confinement, rather than as residents of their home communities. These false population counts are then used to draw state and local legislative districts. The result is that the political power of our communities is diluted. Prison-based gerrymandering is not just unfair; it also violates the New York State Constitution.

We can fix this broken system in time for the 2010 Census. Legislation has been introduced that, if enacted, will change how the State uses Census data for population counts.

New Yorkers need to call on their legislators to change the way population is counted in New York State, before the next round of state and local redistricting.

Sign the petition below.

Our democracy depends on equal representation. That's why it's simply unjust to continue counting incarcerated individuals as residents of their places of confinement, instead of their home communities. The result is significant underrepresentation for urban communities and communities of color. This is bad for upstate counties too - that's why 13 upstate counties have already decided not to count people in prison when they draw their county legislative district line. We call on the New York State Legislature to change how incarcerated individuals are counted for the purpose of legislative redistricting.

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