Learn more about why redistricting matters here.
“Essentially, the plan packs non-Republicans into a relatively few districts in order to create many more districts where Republicans can prevail… To be candid, the GOP should admit they are misusing the Voting Rights Act as a tool to maximize their statewide partisan advantage in the General Assembly.”
Republicans are beginning to roll out their maps for the new state House and state Senate districts for the 2012 elections and the rest of the decade. Following federal law, they have drawn the boundary lines for districts that they say comply with the Voting Rights Act, and now they’re asking for public comment on what they’ve done.
After reviewing the maps and data with our partners in the Alliance for Fair Redistricting and Minority Voting Rights (AFRAM), Democracy North Carolina believes the plan is deeply flawed. Here’s why – and what can be done:
- Support Voting Rights Legislation. Republican leaders are patting themselves on the back for creating several more districts with a majority of African-American adults than currently exist. But are they really promoting black power or are they engaged in deceptive trickery? After all, these are the same leaders who championed a bevy of bills that would suppress African-American turnout – for example, legislation to kill Same-Day Registration, slice a week off Early Voting, end straight-ticket voting, and make registered voters show a government photo ID each time they vote. To increase their credibility, we recommend that the Republicans reverse themselves and oppose these measures that weaken voter participation.
- Show Us the Whole Map. The maps presented only show about 22% of the 170 House and Senate districts. The dazzle of many black majority districts is alluring, but it’s unfair to ask people to comment about these pieces without seeing how they fit into the larger whole. Do these pieces represent the best way to ensure that African-Americans and other minorities across the state have their rights protected under the Voting Rights Act? To increase honest feedback, we recommend that comments on the VRA districts be solicited after the entire maps are revealed.
- Separate and Unequal. To achieve more districts where African-American adults are a majority, the Republican map makers have corralled black voters into often oddly shaped areas and reduced the number of districts where they can play a pivotal role in electing candidates who support their agenda. This strategy follows the old “separate but equal” philosophy used to justify segregation; it gives the appearance of promoting black interests but actually undermines the ability of black voters to maximize their impact in state politics through a combination of majority-minority and multi-racial coalition districts. For example, districts drawn in Cumberland and Guilford counties will ensure that black candidates win several seats in the General Assembly, but the segregation model means other districts that now elect white candidates sympathetic to such policies as the Racial Justice Act will become much more conservative. The end result, as state Sen. Eric Mansfield has pointed out, will be more racial tension and less government through consensus-building. To reduce polarization, we recommend that maps with alternative VRA districts be evaluated and adopted.
- Partisan Manipulation. A review of the demographic profile of the proposed VRA districts suggests that their real purpose is not to protect black voters but to increase the number of pro-Republican districts. In case after case, the boundary lines are cleverly drawn to include enough black adults to slightly exceed the 50% threshold, with the rest of the district loaded up with white Democratic and Unaffiliated voters. Strikingly, the lines move away from pockets of Republicans who can then be grouped together to create new conservative districts. While 32% of all NC voters are Republicans, they are only 16% of voters in the 38 VRA districts; the ratio of white Democratic and Unaffiliated voters to white Republicans across the state is 1.4 to 1 but it is 2 to 1 in the proposed VRA districts. Essentially, the plan packs non-Republicans into a relatively few districts in order to create many more districts where Republicans can prevail. Looking at the 2008 election, Democrat Bev Perdue beat Republican Pat McCrory by a whopping 74 to 26 margin in the 38 VRA districts, but McCrory handily beat her in the other 132 districts by a 55 to 45 margin. To be candid, the GOP should admit they are misusing the Voting Rights Act as a tool to maximize their statewide partisan advantage in the General Assembly.
Learn more about why redistricting matters here.
Bob Hall, Executive Director
Democracy North Carolina
June 22, 2011