KAVC Testifies at the NJ State Assembly Redistricting Hearing
by kace
Posted on October 12, 2011
[KAVC Staff Attorney Chejin Park testified on the behalf of the Korean community.]
Korean American Voters’ Council testified on the behalf of Korean American community at the New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Committee’s hearing on October 11, 2011.
The commission’s last public hearing was held in Newark, NJ.
KAVC called for the redistricting of Northeast New Jersey to preserve the voting rights of Korean Americans as one seat will be eliminated from Congress.
Korean-populated areas are primarily in Eastern Bergen County, which is split into Congressional District 5 and 9. The district lines are split between Tenafly and Englewood, where the north belongs to the 5th district and the south to 9th district.
KAVC also testified that during the last ten years, the Korean community grew along the George Washington Bridge and the freeways, and that the Commission must keep this change in mind as they redraw the district lines. Also, KAVC called for recognizing the Asian American community as a community of interest and regroup the municipalities into Congressional District 9.
Congressional District 9 as proposed by KAVC, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), and other Asian American communities has Ridgefield, Rutherford, Fairview in the south; Fort Lee, Englewood, Tenafly, Old Tappan, Northvale to the north; Fairlawn and Paramus to the west. The proposed district encompasses all towns in Bergen County. Therefore, it is a district that will encompass the voting opinion of the Korean American community.
Attached on this bulletin are the map of the proposed Congressional District 9 and KAVC’s testimony.