Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – 1/26/26… Today, Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) released the following statement after introducing the Fair Apportionment and Independent Redistricting for Maps that Avoid Partisanship (FAIR MAP) Act, comprehensive legislation to establish clear national standards for congressional redistricting, strengthen election integrity, and ensure fair representation for American citizens.

READ: NY POST: LAWLER: GERRYMANDERING IS DRIVING US POLITICS MAD — CONGRESS, STEP IN

Yet again, Democrats in New York are attempting to gerrymander congressional maps. For the last three cycles, they have used bogus court orders and hand-picked partisan judges to offer lines that clearly favor their own party. These efforts undermine representative democracy, violate the state constitution, disregard the will of New Yorkers who wanted independent redistricting, and advance hyper-partisanship in Congress. It’s past time for these political games to stop. 

“Voting rights and equal representation only work if the system itself is fair, transparent, and trusted. My FAIR MAP Act puts clear guardrails around congressional redistricting, ends mid-decade political map rigging, and ensures that federal elections reflect the voices of lawful voters, not partisan gamesmanship. Every voter deserves confidence that the system is fair and that their vote counts the same as anyone else’s,” said Congressman Lawler.

“Kathy Hochul and Hakeem Jeffries’ scheme to redraw New York’s congressional districts months before an election is a blatant power grab and misuse of public office. Albany Democrats are so afraid of voters that they’d rig the system rather than make their case to New Yorkers honestly. After the courts rejected an obvious gerrymander, they’re back at it, ignoring the law and gaming voters’ rights,” concluded Congressman Lawler.

Key provisions of the FAIR MAP Act include:

• Establishing a list of conditions for state congressional redistricting plans. Districts must be contiguous, as compact in form as practicable, not drawn to discourage competition or favor/disfavor anyone, and equal in population as defined in this bill.

• Prohibiting mid-decade redistricting.

• Excluding individuals without lawful immigration status from the population counts used to determine congressional representation.

• Requiring that legal challenges to congressional maps be heard in federal court creates consistency and legal clarity.

• Prohibiting the use of ranked-choice voting in federal elections to maintain a clear, uniform voting system nationwide.

• Requiring valid photo identification for in-person voting in federal elections, while allowing signature verification for absentee and mail-in ballots.

• Prohibiting same-day voter registration.

Full text of the bill can be found HERE. 

Congressman Lawler is one of the most bipartisan members of Congress and represents New York's 17th Congressional District, which is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties. He was rated the most effective freshman lawmaker in the 118th Congress, 8th overall, surpassing dozens of committee chairs.

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