Supreme Court of North Carolina Strikes Down Congressional and Legislative Maps

[L. Coyote]

Source: democracydocket.com/

Today, the North Carolina Supreme Court struck down the state’s enacted congressional and legislative maps for being partisan gerrymanders that violate the North Carolina Constitution. In its 4-3 decision, the court concluded that any map “that diminishes or dilutes a voter’s opportunity to aggregate with likeminded voters to elect a governing majority… infringes upon that voter’s fundamental right to vote,” explicitly rejecting the lower court and Republican defendants’ notion that partisan gerrymandering is allowed under the state constitution. The court ordered the Legislature to submit redrawn plans using “neutral redistricting criteria” by Feb. 18.

The ruling comes from two lawsuits challenging the enacted maps: Harper v. Hall and North Carolina League of Conservation Voters (NCLCV) v. Hall. After a trial was held in the beginning of January, the trial court ruled that partisan gerrymandering claims are not justiciable — meaning suitable for North Carolina courts to rule on. The parties appealed this decision to the North Carolina Supreme Court, which held oral argument this past Wednesday. In its opinion today, the state Supreme Court held that partisan gerrymandering is not allowed under the state constitution, which protects the right to vote for every eligible citizen. The majority found that the “General Assembly violates the North Carolina Constitution when it deprives a voter of his or her right to substantially equal voting power on the basis of partisan affiliation.” The court reminded the Legislature that “partisan advantage is not a traditional neutral districting criterion under state law” and their new plans “shall adhere to traditional neutral districting criteria and not subordinate them to partisan criteria.” If the Legislature fails to enact new maps, the court will take over the process.

Read more: https://www.democracydocket.com/alerts/supreme-court-of-north-carolina-strikes-down-congressional-and-legislative-maps/

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Read the order here = PDF.

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[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. That is just incredibly good news!

The Republicans must have been overly confident that their schemes will succeed, only to see them overthrown.

Sweet, sweet karma!

[dchill]

2. Will Democrats retain the House?

Doesn't seem so impossible - except for that suppression thing.

[barbtries]

5. This is NC.

we don't have the house. Maybe now we can get it.

Republicans have had the GA since 2010.

[regnaD kciN]

9. It also appears to apply to the map of NC Congressional districts...

...so I'm guessing that it at least increases our chances to hold onto the House.

[barbtries]

13. it really should.

But here in NC, i can't give you the numbers off the top of my head, but Democrats got way more votes and ended up with way less seats because of the gerrymandering. I wish i felt more optimistic about it, but it's been so long and they are so bad. The republicans in NC are no better than the republicans in DC.

[OldBaldy1701E]

25. Worse, in many ways. (n/t)

[11 Bravo]

22. I believe the question refers to the US House of Representatives.

[barbtries]

23. yes, i've been set straight on that. nt

[L. Coyote]

6. Will voters tolerate people who endorse overthrowing democracy? I think not.

GOP is swimming in concrete boots, thanks to their mobster Don.

[barbtries]

3. very happy about this.

i didn't necessarily expect it; i thought the court might be too republican tbh.

republicans here are going all out for permanent minority rule, and it sucks. so glad they lost today, but i doubt they'll be graceful or accept it and proceed accordingly.

[GB_RN]

4. The Court Just Heard Arguments...

Two days ago! Based on the court’s make up (4 D, 3 R), I was sure we’d get this ruling, but I’m amazed it came so quickly.

One of our NC Supreme Court “Justices” is the son of NC Senate President pro tempore, Phil Berger. Berger was, obviously, involved in drawing the maps. His son refused to recuse himself from the case and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t one of the four in the majority ruling, either. 🙄

[Traildogbob]

7. Embarrassed by

Meadows and Cawthorn maybe? They should be. Treasonous dirt bags up trumps ass.

[GB_RN]

11. That's For Sure.

I know I'm embarrassed by them just being from my state. Fortunately, I'm not from the 13th Congressional District, so I don't have to say they represent(ed) me, personally.

[WHITT]

8. Hot Damn

First, OH, then PA, now NC.

The Repubs are gonna roll out the fainting couches.

[L. Coyote]

10. We are now 5-0. "And we are not done yet."

Link to tweet

[ancianita]

15. Marc Elias is our soaring Legal Eagle!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

12. What will the Republicans do if they can't cheat?

[Tommymac]

14. Lose.

[Cha]

17. POFShitrump Must be Bouncing

OFF the WALLS!!

Time for some Hate Rallies.. MF

[Cha]

16. Outstanding! My sister lives

in Buncombe Co.. I wish this would help get rid of Cawthorne.

Rts TY!

[wendyb-NC]

18. Hallelujah!

This is very good news

[mnhtnbb]

19. Hooray! Republicans are such cheaters. Here are the results of 2020 House elections in NC

We had 13 Congressional seats in NC (we're getting one more because of Census changes)

In 2020, the total number of votes cast for Democrats in the 13 House districts was 2,660,535.
In 2020, the total number of votes cast for Republicans in the 13 House districts was 2,631,336.

As you can see 29,199 MORE votes were cast across the state for Democrats than Republicans.
The final outcome of Congressional seats was 5 for Democrats and 8 for Republicans!

https://er.ncsbe.gov/?election_dt=11/03/2020&county_id=0&office=FED&contest=0

Can you say gerrymandered?

Thanks, NC Supreme Court. Let's see what comes up next.

[moose65]

20. Wow - they ruled quickly!

The Republicans in the General Assembly will now whine about this for a few days, then they will submit some maps that will give the Dems a seat or two in Congress, but I would be willing to bet that they'll try to grab the new seat. They'll probably come out with a map that gives them 9 seats and Democrats 5, even though it should be 7 - 7.

They tried two things that are so blatant, it was laughable when they claimed they didn't look at voter trends and past election results: they jerked a big chunk of Greensboro out of its county, Guilford, and put it with much more rural areas to the west. They also jerked out ONE voting precinct in Watauga County that happens to be the precinct that I live in - me, and my odious so-called Representative, Virginia Foxx, whose mountaintop mansion is about 2 miles from my house.

I can only hope that whatever they come up with is so terrible that the courts will take over the maps.

At least in NC, we have a Democratic governor and Secretary of State, so we've had none of that fuckery about the General Assembly overruling the people.

I am a bit more optimistic now that Dems can keep the House. After this, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and what Dems have done in NY and Illinois, it's looking a bit better.

[The Mouth]

21. Districts should be as compact as possible

Regardless of consequences.

Anything else is Gerrymandering, and wrong, no matter who does it or who benefits.

[cstanleytech]

24. Frankly I feel like districts should be randomly redrawn every 4 to 8 years

so as to reduce the ability for any party to engage in gerrymandering.
Would it hurt the Democrats a bit? Maybe but it would completely screw the Republicans as they have embraced it in a number of states that they are struggling to maintain control in.

[Dustlawyer]

26. Good thing it was not the Texas SC. They would have overturned it because it wasn't

Republican enough!