{"id":2747,"date":"2025-10-01T17:01:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T21:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/?post_type=press&p=2747"},"modified":"2025-10-08T12:49:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T16:49:17","slug":"watauga-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/watauga-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Watauga voters and Common Cause file lawsuit against NC legislature\u2019s illegal manipulation of county voting maps"},"template":"","class_list":["post-2747","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"","featured_image":"","press_type":146,"authors":"","related_issues":[417],"related_work":false,"location":36},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":"","name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

The court challenge comes after the legislature blocked the results of\u00a0Watauga's countywide vote choosing fair local districts over state lawmakers\u2019 gerrymandered versions\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\r\nBOONE, NORTH CAROLINA \u2013 A group of Watauga County voters, joined by the nonpartisan groups Watauga County Voting Rights Taskforce and Common Cause North Carolina, filed a lawsuit<\/a><\/strong> in federal court today challenging state lawmakers\u2019 manipulation of county voting maps.\r\n\r\nThese local residents are going to court to challenge the legislature's gerrymander of the Watauga County Board of Commissioners and the Watauga County Board of Education.\u00a0Senator Ralph Hise of Mitchell County pushed through two bills that established unfair voting maps that violate the core constitutional principle of \"one-person, one-vote.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe suit also challenges an unconstitutional law passed by the legislature to block the results of a countywide referendum that was placed on the 2024 ballot in response to the legislature\u2019s gerrymander, in which an overwhelming 71% of Watauga voters voted to adopt locally drawn, fair districts for Watauga County elections.\r\n\r\n\u201cWatauga County residents voted to adopt fair districts while rejecting the gerrymandered maps imposed on us by the legislature,\u201d said\u00a0Ray Russell, a former Watauga County Commissioner and a plaintiff in the case. <\/strong>\u201cWe\u2019re filing this lawsuit to protect our mountain community against the unconstitutional overreach by politicians in Raleigh.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe lawsuit,\u00a0Watauga County Voting Rights Task Force v. Watauga County Board of Elections,<\/em>\u00a0was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. The complaint outlines how the legislature\u2019s actions violate Watauga County voters\u2019 First Amendment rights as well as equal protection of their votes under the 14th Amendment. Sen. Hise and GOP legislators singled out disfavored Watauga County voters, placed illegal burdens on the residents\u2019 right to vote, and discriminated against them based on their viewpoint.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe\u2019re speaking up for our fellow Watauga County voters and for all North Carolinians,\u201d said\u00a0Cathy Williamson, a Watauga County resident and a State Advisory Board member with Common Cause North Carolina<\/strong>. \u201cIf the legislature\u2019s illegal actions are allowed to stand, it could open the door for self-serving politicians to disenfranchise voters from the Appalachian Mountains to the Albemarle Sound. We can\u2019t let that happen.\u201d\r\n

Background on the case: Watauga County residents challenge an unconstitutional abuse of power by politicians in Raleigh<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nAs chair of the NC Senate\u2019s Elections Committee in 2023, Sen. Ralph Hise of Mitchell County pushed through controversial\u00a0legislation<\/a>\u00a0dictating sweeping changes to the structure of Watauga County Board of Commissioners elections and imposed gerrymandered commissioner districts to benefit his preferred candidates.\r\n\r\nAnother bill<\/a>\u00a0sponsored by Sen. Hise then forced the Watauga County Board of Education to also use the same gerrymandered districts, further undermining fair elections for residents.\r\n\r\nThe legislation manipulated voting maps to single out students at Appalachian State University, packing most into two\u00a0overpopulated\u00a0districts and undermining their voices in elections. To do this, the maps split multiple voting precincts \u2013 for instance, one precinct northwest of the town of Boone straddles three different districts. The maps create a nearly 10% variance from biggest to smallest district that dilutes the overall voting power of disfavored Watauga residents.\r\n\r\nIn 2024, members of the Watauga County Board of Commissioners responded to the blatant gerrymander by voting to place a referendum on the 2024 ballot that would allow local voters to choose whether to adopt fair, locally drawn voting maps.\u00a0The process for doing that is provided to all county commissions under\u00a0North Carolina law<\/a>.\r\n\r\nUnlike the legislature\u2019s gerrymandered map, the Watauga County Board of Commissioners proposed two at-large seats and three districts drawn under the conditions that:\r\n