If the newly proposed map is approved by the full General Assembly voters in these counties will then be part of Congressman Walter B. Jones district.
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North Carolina Republican lawmakers want to keep racial considerations out of drawing the state’s congressional map if they are forced to rework boundaries because of a federal court decision. “Now taxpayers will have to pay even more money to defend yet another round of illegal gerrymandering, all because North Carolina Republicans are afraid to face voters on even ground”.
The map released on Wednesday has a similar outline, with the 1 District still encompassing most of Durham County and sweeping north to include Granville, Vance, Warren and Halifax counties before arching into Eastern North Carolina. Some pointed to 1998 when congressional primaries had to be held in September to accommodate new districts after other primaries were conducted in May. Democrats, who hold the minority, tried unsuccessfully to vote down most of the criteria. The courts have said partisan gerrymandering is acceptable, but Blue predicted that these proposed districts would tempt them to reconsider.
As of presstime Feb. 16, the U.S. Supreme Court had not yet indicated whether or not it would act to delay the U.S. District Court’s order to redraw North Carolina’s maps by this Friday, Feb. 19. They also, of course, want districts redrawn in an un-gerrymandered way-and not just the two districts now in question before SCOTUS. In the new configuration, the 9th stretches east from southern Mecklenburg County and continues along counties that border SC. To the northeast, voters on one side of Olive Branch Road helped elect a Democrat, while the district across the street chose a Republican.
If the legislature votes to approve the map this week – and a special House and Senate session is set to start Thursday – the federal court would still have to sign off on the proposal. Co-chairman Rep. David Lewis argues the judges found no racially polarized voting in the state.
As the state government looks to the U.S Supreme Court for a stay, its appeal was complicated over the weekend by the unexpected death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. According to the Charlotte Observer, a majority of speakers favored redrawing the maps and getting them right. “Redo the district lines and do the right thing”, Grant told legislators. With the possibility of no word on a stay being denied or granted in time to complete the process, lawmakers announced Monday’s hearings on Friday, in an apparent effort to start the redistricting process in case it’s necessary. Lawyers for the Forsyth County property owners challenging the law say North Carolina’s is the most far-reaching.
The state was advised not to move its primary date up so early for a number of reasons, in large part because there are so many unsettled election changes occurring.
Avery County would move from the 11th District to the 5th, which takes in the Winston-Salem area and counties in the state’s northwestern corner and the boundary between the 5th and 10th districts would change in the Hickory area.
“What happens if they can’t change the map in enough time?”
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The prudent thing to do here would be for North Carolina to push its primaries back to May so that all of these wrinkles can get ironed out.
