Republican Gerrymandering, Voter Suppression
Last week, along party lines, Republican NC lawmakers voted for new, “breathtakingly” gerrymandered congressional and legislative voting districts across our state.
The first of what are expected to be multiple lawsuits challenging NC’s new political districts as unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering was filed last week by a group affiliated with former US Attorney General Eric Holder. All three new Republican-crafted maps - for North Carolina’s 14 seats in the US House, 50 seats in the NC Senate, and 120 seats in the NC House - passed along partisan lines, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed. The lawsuit challenges only the US Congressional map. It’s framed as a continuation of a successful 2019 partisan gerrymandering lawsuit, which forced GOP lawmakers to draw new lines for the 2020 elections.
In spite of NC voters being roughly split 50-50 statewide, many of our state’s Democratic voters will now find themselves packed into one of just three districts centered around Raleigh, Durham, and Charlotte. The lawsuit says the map divides up the state’s main metro areas, “then packs many of the remaining Democratic strongholds into three congressional districts. The result is as intended: a map that produces 10 completely safe Republican seats, three safe Democratic seats, and only one competitive district.”
Our own US Congress, NC Senate, and NC House districts remain gerrymandered. Take action and support the NC grassroots organizations on the ground every day, filling the lawsuits, educating and engaging voters, and protecting every citizen’s right to vote:
