North Carolina is deeply intertwined with partisan gerrymandering. This is epitomized by three recent cases the state has seen.
Ten out of 13 of North Carolina’s positions in the U.S. House of Representatives are held by Republicans, despite N.C. being a primarily purple state. Republican Congress candidates won 50.3 percent of the vote and Democrats won 48.4 percent of the vote, according to a News & Observer analysis of votes.
CASE 1:
Rucho v. Common Cause
The Supreme Court made a 2016 decision that two N.C. Congressional districts relied too heavily on race. After they were redrawn, two cases were filed challenging the remedial congressional maps.
These cases said the new map was partisan gerrymandering. League of Women Voters v. Rucho and Common Cause v. Rucho were combined into one case and heard over the summer.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court decided it didn’t have jurisdiction over partisan claims to a state’s congressional districts.
CASE 2:
Common Cause v. Lewis
The state courts ordered a redrawing of the state legislative districts this September because of partisan gerrymandering.
The General Assembly districts were considered to violate multiple parts of the N.C. constitution.
The new maps passed the House and Senate and are currently being reviewed by judges.
CASE 3:
Harper v. Lewis
This most recent case is building off of precedent set by the last two cases. It aims to redraw the 13 congressional districts on grounds of partisan gerrymandering.
The case was heard Oct. 24th and will be tried in a state court instead of a federal court, influenced by the Supreme Court’s lack of jurisdiction.
The ECHO interviewed Allison Riggs, lead attorney on League of Women Voters v. Rucho, about gerrymandering in the state.
Were you hoping that the Supreme Court would set a national precedent with your case?
“That was definitely the goal. All voters in the country would benefit from a national rule interpreting a federal constitutional right. That was our hope and it was really quite sad for our democracy that the vote broke down the way it did.”
How do you think gerrymandering has affected North Carolinians?
“I think it’s been really frustrating for voters over this last decade. The persistent gerrymandering, first racial, now partisan. It is 2019 and we have yet to have a constitutionally fair election for either state legislative or congressional districts and that is really horrifying.”
How does it affect voter turnout?
“Turnout is less than what it should be. If voters thought their votes mattered and districts in the state were drawn to allow voters to decide who was going to be their representative rather than the representatives deciding what voters they want in order to ensure that they’re reelected, if you had districts that did meaningfully reflect the people in the state, I think turnout would be off the charts.”
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
“When you draw crazy shaped districts or when you draw districts that are essentially designed to predetermine the outcome you undermine residents’ and voters’ abilities to work together to achieve a common goal, and I think that that is a great disservice to the state. People who don’t vote because they think it’s predetermined, their voices aren’t being heard by the representatives deciding all the stuff that affects our day to day life.
