ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)–At the New York State Court of Appeals Tuesday Morning, a group of seven judges heard oral arguments in the controversial redistricting case.

“It was a very active bench,” said John Faso, a former Republican Congressman. “We felt the judges asked good questions and it appeared to us that they were more focused on the violation of the process that we alleged the legislature made than on the substantive gerrymandering argument.”

Mentioned throughout the oral arguments was the Independent Redistricting Commission, a group which was made up of five Democrats and five Republicans. They were originally tasked with drawing the maps, but failed to agree upon just one set of them. The State Legislature then come up with their own.

“What the lawsuit alleges is that because the commission never submitted a second set of plans, because after their first plans were rejected, they never met to draw a second set of plans to submit—the lawsuit said that the legislature could not draw the lines themselves. In other words the process had not been followed and that process is what the constitution required,” explained Constitutional Expert, Christopher Bopst.

One lawyer representing the state explained his side as to why lawmakers drew the maps.

“The Legislature properly stepped in and that’s according to the 2021 legislation that was passed to fill precisely this silence in the constitutional procedures,” said Jeffrey Lang, Deputy Solicitor General in the Office of Attorney General.

A ruling could come very soon.
“I would expect a decision within a day or two,” said Faso.

News10 reached out to the lawyer representing the Democrats, but did not get a response.

Depending on the Court of Appeals Decision, the Congressional Primary could get pushed back to August.