Fight for Fair Maps

2022 Congressional and State Voting Maps

MORRISVILLE, N.C. (2/24/2022) – On February 23, 2022, state House and Senate maps drawn by the North Carolina General Assembly, and a special expert-drawn Congressional map, were unanimously adopted by the Wake County Superior Court. After the three-judge panel accepted the remedial plans, multiple appeals were submitted by all parties. Late in the night, a final N.C. Supreme Court ruling made all three maps official voting maps for the 2022 elections.

Candidate filing begins Feb. 24, 2022 and runs until March 8, 2022. The state primary also secures the date of May 17, 2022. 

Democracy North Carolina has long fought for fair maps and applauds the N.C. Supreme Court’s decision to reject the legislature-proposed Congressional gerrymanders, instead accepting a map drawn by outside experts. Unfortunately, the state Senate map submitted by the NCGA fails to include a racially polarized voting analysis and flagrantly ignores established state law.

Cheryl Carter, Interim Co-Executive Director of Democracy NC, comments on what the final 2022 maps mean for all voters, including Black, Latiné, and Indigenous communities who continue to be targets of extreme partisan and racial gerrymandering, year after year.

“The General Assembly’s state Senate map relies on misleading and skewed data, contradicting clear guidelines from the N.C. Supreme Court to conduct a district-specific racially polarized voting analysis. Instead, lawmakers decided to pack Black voters into a single Northeastern district to dilute Black voting power, stripping away the ability to elect candidates of their choices in other districts.

Racial gerrymandering continues to harm Black, Latiné, and Indigenous voters who have the fundamental right to participate in free and fair elections, including choosing their elected leaders and not the other way around. Whether it is voter intimidation, election sabotage, disinformation, or extreme gerrymanders, power-hungry politicians continue to ignore the will of the people.

We remain steadfast in our mission to preserve democracy and now look ahead to the state primary and General Election.”

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The N.C. Supreme Court on Partisan Gerrymanders

In a 4-3 decision, N.C.’s Supreme Court threw out the state’s congressional and legislative maps on Feb. 4, 2022, calling the maps “unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt.” Included in the order to redraw, the NCGA must do a racially-polarized voting (RPV) analysis and draw VRA-compliant maps.

• Feb. 4: N.C.’s Supreme Court threw out the state’s congressional and legislative maps calling them “unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt.”
• Feb. 18: The N.C. Legislature has until Feb. 18 to submit an alternative redistricting plan; if they don’t submit a plan, the trial court can select a different plan from the other parties from the lawsuit.
• Feb. 21: Comments on the maps must be submitted to the trial court by Feb. 21.
• Feb. 23: The trial court must approve maps on or before Feb. 23.

The N.C. Supreme Court ruling means partisan gerrymandering is now unconstitutional and illegal in North Carolina. While partisan gerrymandering has always been an insult to free elections and representative democracy, technological advances in recent years have allowed legislators to target certain voters with surgical precision in far more obvious attempts to entrench their own power.

The North Carolina Supreme Court’s historic decision affirms voters’ fundamental right to freely choose their own representatives, preventing any politician, Republican or Democratic, from rigging voting maps for their own personal gain.

The Feb. 4th ruling was also an unequivocal win for North Carolina’s Black voters, who were most harmed by these extreme partisan gerrymanders. The Court’s instructions to follow their precedent in earlier redistricting cases means legislators will have to conduct analyses required by the Voting Rights Act, and protect the ability of Black voters to elect candidates of their choice — especially in Eastern North Carolina.

The majority’s order explicitly lays out easily understood and applicable redistricting methods and neutral redistricting criteria. Treating North Carolina’s voters equally is not rocket science — and the North Carolina Supreme Court order is an opportunity for the N.C. General Assembly to find the moral courage to do right by our state’s residents. We deserve nothing less.

What is redistricting and why is it important?

Most of our elected political representatives are sorted into voting districts. Redrawing the boundary lines for these districts is called redistricting . Redistricting happens after every decade’s U.S. Census to adjust the districts and make them roughly equal in population. This decade’s redistricting began in August 2021 following the delivery of the 2020 Census results.

Who is in charge of redistricting?

Redistricting is not an automatic process — and varies from state to state.

In North Carolina, redistricting happens on the local, state, and federal levels — anywhere that candidates file and elections happen.

On the local level, town or city councils, boards of county commissioners, and boards of education draw their own districts, with the help of city or county attorneys (or sometimes outside attorneys or redistricting experts). The North Carolina General Assembly draws three districts: the North Carolina delegation to the US House of Representatives (otherwise known as Congressional Districts), and their own State Districts for the NC Senate & NC House.

Historically, North Carolina’s state and local governments have not always led a fair, open, timely, and transparent redistricting process, which makes community organizing and advocacy essential.

In the fall of 2021, Democracy NC joined a coalition of North Carolina voting rights organizations to demand an open process for drawing the state’s legislative and Congressional districts, outlined in multiple redistricting recommendations letter emailed to state legislators.

• August 2021: Demands Letter for a fair, inclusive, timely, and transparent process.
• September 2021: Demands Letter for meaningful public participation in redistricting hearings.
• October 2021: Demands Letter for North Carolinians to meaningfully participate in the map drawing process.

What is Gerrymandering?

Gerrymandering is the deliberate drawing of districts in a way that maximizes the power of politicians. Gerrymandering may result in oddly-shaped districts designed to greatly increase or decrease a certain kind of voter (e.g., Black voters or Republican voters). Racial gerrymandering places voters in districts based on race. Partisan gerrymandering places voters in districts based on which party they have historically voted for, with a similar intent of reducing competition and benefiting one party.

When does redistricting happen?

Redistricting can begin when the US Census Bureau releases data gathered during the prior year’s Census. Because of delays in Census data caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, the Census Bureau released partial form of the data on August 12, 2021, and full data on September 30, 2021.

State and local governments began their redistricting processes after August 12. 

In North Carolina, the NC General Assembly draws State and Congressional Districts before candidates file for the next elections. Public hearings seeking community input may be held on the local level before draft maps are drawn; and must be held after they are drawn and before they are passed.

Typically, the redistricting process follows the following stages:

• Census data is released, including population changes and who lives where.
• Maps are drafted based on the available data.
• Public hearings about draft maps are held where community input is given.
• Maps are approved by the relevant state and local governments.
• The next elections are held using the  maps drawn during this process.

What is a Community of Interest? 

A community of interest is a neighborhood, community, or group of people who have common policy concerns and would benefit from being maintained in a single district. Another way of understanding a community of interest is that it is simply a way for a community to talk about what makes it unique when compared to surrounding communities, as defined by the local community members.

Why is a Community of Interest important?

Keeping communities of interest together is an important principle in redistricting. It can be especially helpful to communities that have been traditionally left out of the political process. Community members can define their communities by telling their stories and describing concerns to policy makers. Examples include community members working to repair their area after a natural disaster or a neighborhood organizing to have a high school built closer to them.

How are state and local maps made?

Using population counts from the 2020 Census, state lawmakers began the Community Districting process in August 2021. Redistricting is how the U.S. divides up communities for the purposes of establishing what voting districts we live in, who represents us, and how those representatives will allocate resources for our communities.

OUR FAIR MAPS FIGHT BEGAN YEARS AGO

On August 22, 2017, North Carolinians from all across the state made their voices heard against the dangers of gerrymandering. These were some of their stories.