Dutchess residents will see 2020 referendum
The Dutchess County Legislature on Sept. 9 unanimously approved placing a measure on the ballot in November 2020 to create a commission to redraw its political boundaries following each federal census.
The proposal, based on provisions in the Ulster County charter, would create a seven-member panel. Elected officials, party officials and government employees could not be members, and the Legislature would have no say over the boundaries of its 25 districts.
Dutchess lawmakers passed an independent redistricting law in 2009 but it was repealed a year later. Minority Leader Hannah Black (D-Hyde Park) said the new measure would “put an end to the corrupt practice of partisan gerrymandering.”
