On April 21, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth District, invalidated the new U.S. House district boundaries as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. The decision is based on the State Constitution. Harkenrider v Hochul, 22-00506. The vote is 3-2. Both dissenters, Justices Gerald J. Whalen and Joanne M. Winslow, are Democrats. The majority comprises Republican Justice John V. Centra, and Democratic Justices Stephen K. Lindley and John M. Curran. Here is the decision. Thanks to ElectionLawBlog for the link.

The order gives the legislature until April 30 to draw new districts. It is extremely likely that the case will be appealed to the state’s highest state court, the Court of Appeals.

On April 20, the San Diego city council held a hearing on a bill for ranked choice voting. Currently San Diego city elections have a primary in June of even years, and then in November, the top two vote-getters compete, even if someone got 50% in the primary.

The bill would eliminate the primary except in races with at least six candidates. In races with fewer than six candidates, there would only be the November election. However, that system has the disadvantage that candidates must file early in the year, even though the election in most cases would not be held for eight months after the filing deadline.

This newspaper story describes the skeptical reception received by the bill. The story also indicates that a proposal to have only one round in all cases might be more acceptable. If the bill provided for only one round, in November, then the filing deadline could be much later in the year, probably in August. Thanks to Eric Wong for the link.

On April 21, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in U.S. v Vaello Madero, 20-303. It says the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause does not require the United States to offer SSI benefits to U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico. The vote is 8-1. Although this is not an election law case, it will injure the pending lawsuits filed by U.S. citizens who moved from a state into a territory. They cannot vote absentee in their former states of residence, even though if they had moved from a state to a foreign country, they could continue to vote absentee. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the news about the U.S. Supreme Court decision.

SSI is federal welfare for aged and disabled persons. Here is the opinion.