CHAPEL HILL, NC – As North Carolina gears up for a sizzling midterm election, the state’s voting maps are back in the spotlight.
Last week the NC Supreme Court revisited legislative and Congressional maps being used in the upcoming election. They were approved shortly after the first maps drawn by Republicans were struck down… some of the groups still contesting the new ones’ legality aren’t satisfied.
Despite the push for more litigation, the state’s high court said it is too late to redraw maps in time for the midterms. District maps are redrawn every ten years based on the state’s population… which we know from the census.
In the 2011 NC congressional map, there were only 13 districts with very interesting and complex lines divvying them up. At the time, the republican party, which drew this map, held eight of the thirteen seats available, which is also known as gerrymandering. And that’s why democrats and voting rights advocates argued that they were skewed to favor the GOP.
When looking at the 2022 NC congressional map, not only was there an additional district added, the fourteenth, but the district lines are more straightforward and uniform. Additionally, the district numbers have been reassigned for the most part. still, most of the state remains red, with those same democrats and advocates arguing that the districts continue to favor republicans.
Although it’s too late for maps to be redrawn for next month’s election, we still don’t know is when justices will rule and decide whether these maps are gerrymandered or not, if at all this year. If you’re wondering what your district is and who is on your ballot, visit www.ncleg.gov for more information.
Picture Credit: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/north-carolina-republicans-passed-a-heavily-skewed-congressional-map-how-will-the-courts-respond/