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Health & Fitness

What Is Really at Stake Election Day

The 2011 local elections in Nassau County have far greater implications than you might have known.

The 2011 election will take place during what is known as the “off-off-year” cycle.  This means there are no federal or state elections and there is no county-wide office (County Executive, County Comptroller, County Clerk & District Attorney) up for grabs this year.

What will be on the ballot on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November  are a number of slots for State Supreme Court (elected by voters in both Nassau & Suffolk as one), one County Court judgeship, the entire Nassau County Legislature and other local seats on town boards.

Historically, this is the election cycle with the lowest voter turnout. Setting the over-under at 30 percent turnout, a betting man would do well to put a few bucks
on under.

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The elections that will garner the most attention, rightfully so, are for the 19-member county legislature.

Every two years, the entire legislature comes up for re-election. The current political makeup of the 19 seats is 11 Republicans and eight Democrats. For Republicans to retain control, they must, at a minimum, see a net loss of only 1 seat. The Democrats must, at a minimum, see a net gain of 2 seats to take back the majority they lost in 2009. Advantage Republicans.

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For the most part, winning the majority means guaranteeing that party will control the representative branch of the county for the next two years. This year, however, victory brings far greater spoils.

The party who finds themselves in the majority on Nov. 9 will be the one to control the once-a-decade process of redrawing legislative lines based on the most recent census data. This is known as redistricting or reapportionment. You may recall that the Republicans recently attempted to move this process along early; they were ultimately handed a crushing blow (at taxpayers’ expense) by the state’s highest court. Thus the process will unfold as the law requires in 2012 with the new lines in place for the 2013 elections.

In theory, redistricting is designed to fix inevitable inequities in the number of voters per legislative district based on 10 years’ worth of population shifts.  In practice, both political parties use the process to shore up their majorities in hopes that they will retain control of the government for the next decade.

That being said, if the Republicans maintain control of the Nassau County Legislature, they will draw new lines that have very little to do with population shifts or federally protected minority representation and very much to do with ensuring control of the government. If the Democrats win, they are more likely to keep the lines largely as they are now and to prioritize maintaining or expanding minority representation.

Either way, take a second look when you are deciding whether or not you intend to cast your vote in 2½ weeks. And, then take a third look when you are deciding who to cast that vote for. It is far more important than you might have known.

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