{"id":2751,"date":"2025-10-02T09:46:52","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T13:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/?post_type=press&p=2751"},"modified":"2025-10-02T09:47:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T13:47:29","slug":"gerrymandering-poll","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/","title":{"rendered":"POLL: Across party lines, North Carolina voters staunchly oppose gerrymandering under any circumstances, instead want fair voting maps"},"template":"","class_list":["post-2751","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"","featured_image":"","press_type":146,"authors":"","related_issues":false,"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 survey findings come as the top Republican in the NC Senate says he may attempt to gerrymander the state\u2019s congressional maps even more extremely in order to rig the 2026 election \u2013 a move likely to prove deeply unpopular with voters<\/strong><\/h4>\r\nRALEIGH, NC \u2013 North Carolina voters overwhelmingly oppose gerrymandering of congressional and legislative electoral districts and want a bipartisan citizens commission to draw voting maps instead of legislators, according to a new survey<\/a> <\/strong>conducted by a Republican-leaning polling firm.\r\n\r\nThe public opinion findings coincidentally come as the Republican leader of the NC Senate, Sen. Phil Berger of Rockingham County, says he might attempt to further gerrymander the state\u2019s already extremely gerrymandered congressional districts in order to give GOP candidates an unfair advantage in the 2026 election.\r\n\r\nBased on the poll\u2019s findings, such a move by Berger and the Republican-controlled legislature likely would be deeply unpopular among North Carolinians.\r\n\r\nIn fact, 84% of North Carolina voters say it\u2019s never acceptable for politicians to draw districts to help their own party win more seats, no matter the circumstances. That opposition holds across party lines, including 78% of Republicans, 87% of Democrats and 85% of unaffiliated voters.\r\n\r\nA strong majority of voters \u2013 70% \u2013 support the establishment of a bipartisan citizens commission to draw fair voting maps for North Carolina, while 17% are unsure. Just 12% of voters prefer keeping the current system with legislators drawing the maps.\r\n\r\nThe survey was conducted by Opinion Diagnostics, a polling firm that provides research for a variety of Republican politicians as well as non-political entities. The poll was commissioned by the nonpartisan voting rights group Common Cause North Carolina.\r\n\r\n\u201cNorth Carolinians are tired of politicians rigging our voting maps,\u201d said Bob Phillips, Executive Director of Common Cause North Carolina<\/strong>. \u201cAs we see in this survey, voters want no gerrymandering, not more. Senator Berger should take note and drop any attempt to engage in yet more map-rigging, even if pressured by Washington, D.C., politicians to further manipulate North Carolina\u2019s districts.\u201d\r\n

Other key findings in the poll: voters want courts to protect against gerrymandering<\/strong><\/h4>\r\nVoters want courts to guard against gerrymandering, with 82% saying it\u2019s important for judges to protect against racial discrimination in how electoral maps are drawn \u2013 including 66% of Republicans, 93% of Democrats and 85% of unaffiliated voters, as well as 81% of white voters and 93% of Black voters.\r\n\r\nThat finding is timely as a federal court in Winston-Salem this summer heard the lawsuit of NC NAACP v. Berger<\/em>, in which plaintiffs that include Common Cause NC are challenging discriminatory congressional and legislative districts that undermine the voting rights of Black North Carolinians. The three-judge panel has not yet issued a ruling in that case.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, 76% of North Carolina voters say it should be illegal for gerrymandering to be used to discriminate against voters based on their political party.\r\n\r\nThere is strong, bipartisan agreement on this point among voters, with 66% of Republicans, 79% of Democrats and 82% of unaffiliated voters saying partisan gerrymandering should be against the law. That finding is noteworthy after a Republican majority on the NC Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Paul Newby broke legal precedent by overturning a ban on partisan gerrymandering in 2023.\r\n\r\nVoters are wary of politicians in the legislature in charge of drawing districts. Knowing that under the current system in North Carolina one political party controls how voting maps are drawn, 61% of voters say they\u2019re not confident that the state\u2019s congressional and legislative voting districts were drawn by legislators in a fair and transparent way, while just 25% express confidence.\r\n\r\nA whopping 90% of voters believe electoral maps should be drawn with transparency and meaningful public input, including multiple public hearings held in communities across the state to allow people to comment on proposed districts. And nearly all voters \u2013 94% \u2013 want districts that fairly represent all communities and political viewpoints.\r\n\r\n\"These findings show that North Carolina voters across parties want fair maps, transparency, and independent oversight,\" said Brian Wynne, President of Opinion Diagnostics<\/strong>. \"Public support is strong for a citizens\u2019 redistricting commission and for courts to act as a backstop against gerrymandering. Partisan gerrymandering is widely rejected, including by majorities of Republicans as well as Democrats and unaffiliated voters.\"\r\n\r\nThe survey of 671 registered North Carolina voters was conducted Sept. 15-17, 2025 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8%.\r\n\r\nView the poll toplines, crosstabs, and polling memo here.<\/a><\/strong>\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\nCommon Cause NC is a nonpartisan grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create open, honest and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.\u00a0<\/em>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_work","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_work":{"heading":"Work","manually_curate":false,"work":null}}]},"yoast_head":"\nPOLL: Across party lines, North Carolina voters staunchly oppose gerrymandering under any circumstances, instead want fair voting maps - Common Cause North Carolina<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"POLL: Across party lines, North Carolina voters staunchly oppose gerrymandering under any circumstances, instead want fair voting maps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause North Carolina\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-02T13:47:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/end-gerrymandering.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2233\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1254\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/\",\"name\":\"POLL: Across party lines, North Carolina voters staunchly oppose gerrymandering under any circumstances, instead want fair voting maps - Common Cause North Carolina\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-02T13:46:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-02T13:47:29+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"POLL: Across party lines, North Carolina voters staunchly oppose gerrymandering under any circumstances, instead want fair voting maps\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/\",\"name\":\"Common Cause North Carolina\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"POLL: Across party lines, North Carolina voters staunchly oppose gerrymandering under any circumstances, instead want fair voting maps - Common Cause North Carolina","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"POLL: Across party lines, North Carolina voters staunchly oppose gerrymandering under any circumstances, instead want fair voting maps","og_url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/","og_site_name":"Common Cause North Carolina","article_modified_time":"2025-10-02T13:47:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2233,"height":1254,"url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/end-gerrymandering.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/","name":"POLL: Across party lines, North Carolina voters staunchly oppose gerrymandering under any circumstances, instead want fair voting maps - Common Cause North Carolina","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-10-02T13:46:52+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-02T13:47:29+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/press\/gerrymandering-poll\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"POLL: Across party lines, North Carolina voters staunchly oppose gerrymandering under any circumstances, instead want fair voting maps"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/","name":"Common Cause North Carolina","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Common Cause North Carolina","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/2751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/2751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2754,"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/2751\/revisions\/2754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/north-carolina\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}