There are 18 states in the U.S. that the League of Women Voters calls Gerrymandering Trifecta states. That means state legislators draw their own district maps, they draw Congressional maps, and there is no citizen mechanism to change the process. Of those 18 states, 11 are in the South. One of them is North Carolina.
Since North Carolina has become a focus for debates over partisan and racial gerrymandering, it’s axiomatic that Republicans are the current target for criticism. But their gerrymandered district maps in North Carolina are not the first. The Democrats held a majority in the state for years during which they engineered their own gerrymandered districts and rejected Republican efforts to introduce bills for a fairer process.
It was June that the U.S. Supreme Court remanded a North Carolina partisan gerrymandering case, Rucho vs. Common Cause, to the lower courts. While there are calls for redistricting reform, House Speaker Tim Moore told member station WFAE in January that North Carolina is “a model other states could follow.”
The League of Women Voters of North Carolina does not agree. A new white paper by the nonpartisan civic organization calls for a bipartisan commission to redraw districts.
We hear about that proposal on this edition of CoastLine.
Guests:
Janet Hoy, Co-President of the League of Women Voters of North Carolina
Jennifer Bremer is the state’s lead on Fair Elections for the League of Women Voters of North Carolina. She leads the Fair Elections Action Team, also known as FEAT.
Resources from NC League of Women Voters:
- Policy
- Presentations
- Handouts and factsheets
- Court cases:
