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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

CoastLine: Redistricting Reform Tops Agenda For NC League Of Women Voters

NCGA
This congressional district plan was enacted on February 19th 2016, becoming Session Law 2016-1. It was drawn in response to a ruling by the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.

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 Bremeris 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:

Rachel hosts and produces CoastLine, an award-winning hourlong conversation featuring artists, humanitarians, scholars, and innovators in North Carolina. The show airs Wednesdays at noon and Sundays at 4 pm on 91.3 FM WHQR Public Media. It's also available as a podcast; just search CoastLine WHQR. You can reach her at rachellh@whqr.org.
Rachel is a graduate of UNCW's Master of Public Administration program, specializing in Urban and Regional Policy and Planning. She also received a Master of Education and two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and French Language & Literature from NC State University. She served as WHQR's News Fellow from 2017-2019. Contact her by email: rkeith@whqr.org or on Twitter @RachelKWHQR