The N.C. General Assembly voted along party lines Wednesday to move the 2022 primary election back three weeks from May 17 to June 7. The Senate passed the measure, House Bill 605, with a 26-17 vote, while the House approved the change, 69-50. “The bill will alleviate voter confusion,” said Senate Elections Committee Chair Sen....
When I was a graduate student at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, I investigated partisan gerrymandering and whether mathematical models produce fair congressional districts. Come to find out, it was a fool’s errand. I computed all kinds of maps using political data; however, the idea of fairness eluded me, as I could not determine...
Does a one-seat partisan advantage in the drawing of North Carolina’s new congressional district maps amount to an extreme partisan gerrymander that is impermissible under the N.C. Constitution? That was much of the focus on the first day of a trial on the constitutionality of new congressional and legislative maps recently passed by the General...
Editor’s note: This story has been updated. The full N.C. Court of Appeals has overturned a three-judge panel’s order blocking congressional and legislative candidate filing. Filing can proceed until the full 15-member court considers challenges to new state election maps. “It is hereby ordered, upon a vote of the majority of judges of the Court,...
A Wake County Superior Court Judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday that was filed against the state’s election redistricting process. The suit alleged that the General Assembly violated previous court precedents governing how election maps should be drawn. Judge Graham Shirley dismissed the suit, stressing that the ruling was not a judgment on the maps themselves....
New legislative election maps would give Republicans an advantage in the 2022 elections. But the GOP would have to win some competitive races to secure majorities in the state House and Senate, according to a newly-released assessment. The N.C. FreeEnterprise Foundation’s Partisan District Index labels 50 of the 120 new N.C. House districts as “strong...
The N.C. House passed its district map proposal during evening sessions Tuesday, Nov. 2. The Senate is expected to vote on the N.C. House district map on Thursday. Redistricting maps do not go before Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, driving more pressure on the legislative process by opposition groups. The maps were drawn after more than...
Interest groups have already filed lawsuits to block approval of new redistricting maps for North Carolina. The maps are still in development with several legislative map proposals having been presented to the public in recent hearings. In a motion filed Friday, Oct. 29. the Southern Coalition for Justice is leading the lawsuit for the North...
Not enough time. That was a consistent theme Monday, Oct. 25, as residents shared with lawmakers their thoughts on the proposed election maps, drawn after the results of the 2020 census. About 30 people spoke at the hearing in Raleigh, and the general consensus revolved around the lack of time to prepare for the hearings....
Complaints on social media from a left-wing redistricting activist are drawing fire from a state Senate redistricting leader. He accuses the activist of “begging” people to deliver her scripted remarks during public hearings. House and Senate redistricting committees scheduled 13 hearings from the mountains to the coast this month, including six this week. Those hearings...
In anticipation of delayed results from the U.S. Census this year, N.C. lawmakers have introduced a bill that gives local municipalities the option of delaying their 2021 elections to 2022. The change would only apply to about 37 local jurisdictions — including Raleigh, Charlotte, Cary, Fayetteville, and Greensboro — who elect candidates on a district...
