October 28, 2021
The House and Senate Redistricting Committees held joint public hearings this week to give members of the public a last chance to weigh in on the proposed legislative district maps.
Many speakers disagreed with how legislators prevented the use of partisan and racial data in drawing districts, arguing that lawmakers would be unable to protect minority voters from disenfranchisement without such data. Other speakers were critical of the way Republican legislators’ maps split up larger counties like Wake, Guilford, and Mecklenburg. Although the official criteria says that partisan data can’t be used in drawing maps, many of the maps submitted by Republican legislators would likely result in a congressional delegation of between nine to 11 Republicans and between three to five Democrats. Republicans in the state legislature would also likely keep a majority or gain a supermajority in most of the proposed maps. Critics are already speculating that North Carolina’s state and congressional district maps are poised for future legal battles.
Due to an increase in population, North Carolina will receive a 14th seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in this year’s redistricting cycle. All of the Republican-proposed maps introduced so far have created a new congressional district around Speaker of the House Tim Moore’s home, who is rumored to run for Congress in 2022. The Republican-controlled majority will ultimately decide how the new districts will look given that Governor Cooper lacks veto authority over redistricting matters. The House and Senate Redistricting Committees will begin voting on district maps on Monday, with the full legislature planning to approve final maps by the end of next week. All proposed maps are posted on the North Carolina General Assembly’s website, along with links for members of the public to live stream the House and Senate Redistricting Committee meetings.