Associated Press: North Carolina redistricting cases could offer map to others

Associated Press: North Carolina redistricting cases could offer map to others

“Litigation is a hard and painful road,” said Kathay Feng, national redistricting director for Common Cause. The group was a plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case decided in June , which also focused on North Carolina’s congressional map. The goal, Feng said, is to “make changes where each 10 years we’re not facing that same uphill ... climb.”

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — When the U.S. Supreme Court this year declared federal judges had no business deciding cases about political gerrymandering, it also said state courts had every right to address the issue — and have they ever in North Carolina.

Within four months, state judges hearing two separate cases struck down dozens of North Carolina legislative districts and stopped the use of the congressional district map in 2020 elections. In both cases, judges said evidence indicates Republican lawmakers violated the state constitutional rights of free elections, free speech and equality by shuffling Democratic voters into districts in ways that made it nearly impossible for the GOP to lose its majorities.

In response, the Republican-led General Assembly has redrawn its own districts and is likely in November to also reshape congressional districts. That could lead to Democratic gains in next year’s elections.

The North Carolina court decisions could prompt similar lawsuits in other states challenging partisan gerrymanders on state constitutional grounds, particularly following the next round of mandatory redistricting after the 2020 census. …

Some advocates would prefer permanent changes to how lines are drawn, through ballot initiatives and legislation that remove mapmaking power from legislators and gives it to independent commissions.

“Litigation is a hard and painful road,” said Kathay Feng, national redistricting director for Common Cause. The group was a plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case decided in June , which also focused on North Carolina’s congressional map. The goal, Feng said, is to “make changes where each 10 years we’re not facing that same uphill … climb.”

Common Cause was also a plaintiff, along with Democratic voters and the state Democratic Party, in the state court lawsuit leading to the Sept. 3 ruling striking down nearly 80 state legislative districts. It was the first state court decision nationwide against partisan gerrymandering since the U.S. high court’s June decision.