The Department of Justice approved North Carolina’s redrawn district maps last month, but court proceedings for a pair of lawsuits questioning the constitutionality of those changes have just begun.
WHQR’s Michelle Bliss reports that #1 on our top ten countdown of 2011 news stories is redistricting.
Redistricting takes place every ten years to account for the state’s census results. North Carolina has grown by 1.5 million residents since 2000.
The new maps include marked changes to the 7th Congressional district which has housed all of New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties, among others.
With the approved revisions, most of Pender will be part of District 3, which extends up the coast to the Virginia border, and a slice of northwestern New Hanover will be included in other districts.
Residents of Johnston County, along with parts of Hoke and Lenoir, will also vote in the seventh district.
Check out the new map of North Carolina's 7th Congressional District and compare it to the last map.