Associated Press: ‘Concept maps’ revealed as NC redistricting trial winds down

Associated Press: ‘Concept maps’ revealed as NC redistricting trial winds down

Allison Riggs, a lawyer representing Common Cause in the lawsuit, said Hall was misleading the public and acted counter to his own warning during the process. “There were maps drawn behind closed doors, and you never thought to mention them at all?” Riggs asked Hall.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina state legislator who helped orchestrate redistricting in his chamber this fall acknowledged Wednesday that he examined some “concept maps” that were created quietly by someone else before he drew new boundaries in a public committee room.

The testimony by House Redistricting Committee Chairman Destin Hall in a trial over redistricting lawsuits this week affirmed the comments he gave in a deposition in December.

The revelation of state House “concept maps,” which Hall said were drawn by an aide but apparently have been destroyed, contrasts with comments about transparency Republicans made while drawing congressional and legislative boundaries and approving them in early November.

Hall, in particular, repeatedly called the 2021 redistricting process the most transparent ever for North Carolina, and that only maps that were drawn on redistricting computers in a committee room whose activity was live-streamed would be accepted. Allison Riggs, a lawyer representing Common Cause in the lawsuit, said Hall was misleading the public and acted counter to his own warning during the process.

“There were maps drawn behind closed doors, and you never thought to mention them at all?” Riggs asked Hall.