RALEIGH––A panel of federal judges struck down North Carolina’s election districts for U.S. Congress on Tuesday as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders and gave lawmakers until Jan. 29 to bring them new maps to correct the problem.
Haven’t seen this posted here yet, and I hope someone with deep knowledge writes more better about this ;-)
This means you, Stephen Wolf/DKE Elections!
[looks like I missed the good diary, it’s here, go check it out:
Oh wow: Court strikes down North Carolina's GOP-drawn congressional map as partisan gerrymander!]
NC congressional gerrymandered map ruled unconstitutional
Now you could say we see the above headline every six months it seems… well, this time the panel of three federal judges ruled it unconstitutional as a partisan gerrymander at the federal congressional level, which is a first!
The ruling is the first time federal judges have struck down congressional districts as partisan gerrymanders. A Wisconsin case that was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court involved state legislative districts found to be partisan gerrymanders.
This is pretty sure going to SCOTUS (even with the 1/29 deadline for a redraw), who is already ruling on the Wisconsin case.
During the legislative session in which the maps were drawn, Rep. David Lewis, a Harnett County Republican said after the 2011 ruling that the GOP maps included unconstitutional racial gerrymanders:
“I propose that we draw the maps to give a partisan advantage to 10 Republicans and three Democrats because I do not believe it’s possible to draw a map with eleven Republicans and two Democrats,” Lewis said at the time.
This statement is coming back to bite them, heh heh.
At the time, the courts had allowed for some partisan consideration in redistricting, which happens every 10 years after the census shows population shifts. But voting rights organizations have pushed for changes to that, saying modern mapmaking technology has allowed candidates for elected office to choose their voters under new redistricting plans instead of letting voters choose who represents them.
The comment by Lewis has provided the underpinnings for a lawsuit that sets North Carolina apart from other partisan gerrymander challenges.
So get some more popcorn, if you haven’t ODd on it already. Read the rest of the article, and await the more educated diary I hope is coming.
Poor dear, hope he has a lot more to cry about come November.
And… I will be furious if we have to vote in November using these bad maps again!