Scutari confident redistricting delay amendment will pass Senate with 24 votes

State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Linden) is confident a constitutional amendment that would delay the state’s legislative redistricting if New Jersey does not receive census data in time will clear the State Senate with at least 24 yes votes.

“Yea, we do,” Scutari, the amendment’s Senate sponsor, said when asked if there were enough votes to get the amendment on the ballot this year.

Both the Assembly and the Senate are set to vote on the amendment Thursday.

The measure would delay next year’s legislative reapportionment until after the general election if the governor does not receive census data before Feb. 15, a deadline that some advocates have said isn’t late enough to necessitate delaying the redrawing of district lines.

In the case of a delay, lines would have to be redrawn by March 1, 2022.