Washington, D.C. - The NAACP applauds the New York State Senate for passing legislation that will correct the miscount of prisoners in the State of New York when drawing voting districts. The legislation will ensure that incarcerated persons will be counted in their home districts as opposed to prison locations. The NAACP strongly urges Governor Paterson to sign this important piece of legislation into law.
For decades now, the State of New York has skewed representation by counting prisoners in the location of the prison as opposed to their home district. This process attributed populations to many small towns as other districts that do not contain a prison were not included in the prison count.
"We urge Governor Paterson to sign this important piece of legislation into law and bring New York State in line with a handful of states that have chosen to do the right thing by appropriately using incarceration data as opposed to Census data in regards to prison count. We hope the US Census hears the message loud and clear and begin a process to count prisoners in home districts," said NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous.
"The New York State legislature has taken an important step on behalf of fairness and representation and incarcerated persons will finally be counted in the right place," said New York State Conference President Hazel Dukes.
The bill now heads to the Governor’s desk for his signature and if signed, New York would join Maryland and Delaware as the only states to pass such legislation.
Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.
