In another landmark court case for North Carolina, the judicial system has brought us even closer to having electoral equality in our state. The federal court demanded that North Carolina legislators redraw our state’s congressional districts because of the districts being gerrymandered on partisan divides. The ruling by the court in the case of Common Cause v. Rucho is bringing North Carolinians closer to the democracy that we deserve to have.
The biggest threat that North Carolinians now face in our pursuit to having a fair democracy is the issue of where jurisdiction of congressional redistricting moves forward. The future of this equal democracy now appears to be contingent on the passing of House Bill 200, a bill that would take redistricting out of the hands of lawmakers. Our hopes to reach electoral equality in the present ride on who the federal court assigns authority to make new congressional districts in the upcoming weeks.
After the federal court ruled that North Carolina gerrymandered congressional districts along racial lines in 2016, Republican lawmakers were forced to go back to the drawing board to make new lines. This time, however, the lawmakers were emboldened in the effort to make the electoral process unequal. A North Carolina Representative, David Lewis, told a redistricting committee that the point of this redistricting “is to gain partisan advantage on the map.”
It is clear that both parties are incompetent when it comes to creating fair voting districts as the case of Common Cause v. Rucho clearly showed for the Republicans, and from the work of the Democrats gerrymandering that they showed when they were in the majority.
Both sides have shown a clear preference to party over people in regards to voting rights when they are in control, and because of this clear preference North Carolinians should all be advocates of HB 200. This rare bipartisan piece of legislation would give a nonpartisan staff jurisdiction over the construction of a new map. The staff would have to adhere to “all requirements of the Voting Rights Act” and focus on “principles over politics.”
While HB 200 should be pushed for at all costs, it must be brought to the forefront of attention of all North Carolina voters that this redistricting process would not come into effect until 2021. That means that the current gerrymandered lines could stay in effect for both the 2018 midterm election and the 2020 election.
The court will rule in the upcoming weeks whether the voting districts will be redrawn by Republican lawmakers or if the congressional map of a “special master” on redistricting will be used instead, as was done for the North Carolina General Assembly redistricting this past November. In that case, the special master, Nathaniel Persily*, submitted a map that appeared to be much more equal than what either of the parties could come up with. In Persily’s map, a district that once only had 31 percent of its voters registered as Democrats would now show that same district voting for Roy Cooper in a 51-47 margin and the Republican candidate for attorney general, Buck Newton, 50.5-49.4 in 2016.
Gerrymandering even has a local presence for us as students who reside in the 4th district. The 4th District’s odd design allows for it to encompass UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke and NC State, as well as the ethnically diverse cities of Raleigh and Durham. Storing these left-leaning centers makes the 4th District nearly impossible to win as a Republican, and it also excludes neighboring congressional districts from having these pools of registered Democrats.
Keeping these districts in the current state that they are in would act as a massive handicap in favor the Republicans for perhaps their most precarious election since 2012. Many believe that the special elections that took place in 2017 where Democrats were able to close enormous voting gaps are a bellwether for the upcoming 2018 midterms. This makes the upcoming decision by the federal court crucial for the future of North Carolina politics.
As with most cases of trying to create equality for North Carolinians, this is a fight that needs the support of all citizens to win. The current stagnation in passing HB 200 should be met with sharp condemnation. Likewise, North Carolinians should make the federal court hear our voices before it make its decision on who to put in charge of redistricting efforts.
*Editor’s note: This column has been changed to accurately reflect Persily’s role in redrawing the district maps for the North Carolina General Assembly.
