This post was adapted from an exhibit by Historians for a Better Future and edited by Derek Huss, who holds a Public History MA from NC State, and Katie Schinabeck, a Public History PhD Candidate at NC State. While remedying gerrymandering requires institutions like courts and legislatures, it’s organizations of everyday people like the League of Women Voters and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee that compel those institutions to do so. Gerrymandering and White SupremacyDuring Reconstruction, Progressive Republicans in Congress gave federal protection to African American voting rights with the 15th Amendment. This map contains one of the most notorious and heavily litigated gerrymanders in American history. These damning documents proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hofeller and Lewis’ chief goal while drawing the map was to dilute Democratic votes. North Carolina’s extreme gerrymandering could save the House Republican majority. And while the new map isn’t perfect, it is vastly fairer than the previous version. In the mid-1960s, the United States Supreme Court issued a series of rulings in an effort to clarify standards for state legislative redistricting. Thomas Hofeller, the GOP’s redistricting guru, drew it in consultation with state Rep. David Lewis, a Republican. Image courtesy of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. After the 1990 Census, the US Department of … A panel of state judges said the congressional map is gerrymandered … North Carolina's redrawn state legislative districts have been approved by the court, but now the House map is under fire. 1 There are more than 132500 ways of partitioning the approximately 2500 precincts of North Carolina into 13 Congressional Districts. Try the rest of our gerrymander puzzles here. The state’s incomprehensible, constantly changing congressional districts, explained. The second map, in North Carolina, allowed Republicans to win ten of the state’s 13 congressional districts for the last four elections, even when … Slate relies on advertising to support our journalism. Were these too easy? More plainly, ˘is a Congressional redistricting map of North Carolina. © 2021 NC State University. On Thursday morning, the Supreme Court settled the question for congressional maps, ruling that partisan gerrymandering is non-justiciable in federal courts. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Gerrymandering, Redistricting, and Voting Today. In this case the Supreme Court gave protection to the idea of ‘one person, one vote’ by ensuring states would have to redraw districts based on population changes. Gerrymandering is a problem because it distorts democracy. For scale there are an estimated 1080 atoms in the universe 5 Republicans were consistently able to win more than 60% of the seats in both of the state’s legislative chambers despite winning only about half of the statewide vote. All fields are required. The plan, Republicans argued, was a partisan power grab, because majority-minority districts tended to vote Democrat. All rights reserved. Months later, however, a state court struck down the map under the North Carolina Constitution. While gerrymandering is a continuing problem in the state, it isn’t a new problem. All rights reserved. And you'll never see this message again. What followed was a continuous string of court cases involving North Carolina voting districts, stretching from the 1990s to the present. This district would see consistent African American majority wins between 1868 and 1898. Gerrymandering, Redistricting, and Voting Today. In 1964, marches and sit-ins in Chapel Hill highlighted injustices in the seemingly enlightened college town. [1] This number is subject to change as a result of the called for re-election in the 9th district. In 2017, the North Carolina General Assembly had to redraw the state’s congressional districts. The court ordered the North Carolina legislature to redraw congressional districts without using racial or partisan data. Voting rights advocates once held a fun run along the district line that divides Asheville into two districts. The 2010 election cycle ushered in the latest phase of North Carolina’s gerrymandering saga. It allowed Republicans to seize 10 of North Carolina’s 13 congressional districts, even when both parties received an equal share of the statewide vote. that compose the ithdistrict. The 2010 election cycle ushered in the latest phase of North Carolina’s gerrymandering saga. If you value our work, please disable your ad blocker. Americans vote on representatives with the understanding that each vote will count equally, but gerrymandering shifts political districts so as to dilute the voice of individuals within the political system. They used the slogan of ‘one man, one vote’ as a call for equal representation. Harris, the eight-member pre-Gorsuch roster upheld a district court’s ruling that two congressional districts in North Carolina were unconstitutional racial gerrymanders, putting an … Gerrymandering is the practice of drawing legislative districts in order to benefit a certain political party. Activists opposed to partisan gerrymandering hold up representations of congressional districts from North Carolina, left, and Maryland, right, ahead of Supreme Court arguments last spring. Democrats countered that the districts were necessary in order to adhere to the Voting Rights Act. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a challenge to the map, holding that federal courts may not invalidate partisan gerrymanders. George Henry White, an African American politician, won the Black Second in 1896 and again in 1898. From 2013 to 2018, the North Carolina legislature gerrymandered election districts for city councils, school boards, and judges in the state's largest city. A panel of three judges ruled that legislators had gerrymandered the maps in question based on race. North Carolina judges slam GOP gerrymandering in stinging ruling, reject district maps The ruling found state legislative boundaries were so partisan they violated the state constitution. But gerrymandering is most potent, at least at the congressional level, in large swing states. Now the same court could force the state to redraw the state’s congressional districts as well. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. However, the gerrymander succeeded in curbing African American influence in politics by making it nearly impossible for African American voters to elect a Republican anywhere else in the state. In Reynolds v. Sims, the court ruled that "the Equal Protection Clause [of the United States … We are working to create a system that puts citizens not pollticians in charge of drawing electoral districts to strengthen our democracy and ensure voters can hold elected officials accountable The 2018 election demonstrated the extent and impact of gerrymandering in North Carolina: despite winning 50.3 percent of votes, Republicans occupy 10 out of 13 (76%) congressional seats. In November, it will let many North Carolinians participate in a competitive election for the first time this decade. effectively disenfranchised its African American citizens, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/11/09/one-state-fixed-its-gerrymandered-districts-other-didnt-heres-how-election-played-out-both/?utm_term=.2126c9446d1a. It complied. Democrats have reason for some hope in North Carolina, however. Prior to this time, opponents of the state’s approach to voting districts focused their criticisms on the serpentine 12th Congressional district. Constitutionality of the 1990 redistricting. Republicans challenged the map in the Supreme Court case Shaw v. Reno. Lewis did not conceal his goal; while defending the map, he declared: “I think electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled the redistricting plan an illegal racial gerrymander not because it established majority-minority districts but because it did so with such a bizarrely shaped district.. Congressional District 12 - 1992 The 12th Congressional District in North Carolina, as put in place for the 1992 election, is perhaps America's best known congressional district. One line cuts through the middle of Asheville to ensure that the Democratic city cannot elect a Democratic representative. ‘One Man, One Vote’The Civil Rights Movement was in part a response to disenfranchisement. As the image below demonstrates, a geographic area evenly split between the two political parties can be divided so as to weaken the vote of one group. Associate Teaching Professor, Dr. Charles Ludington publishes essay for The American Scholar. Both Republicans and Democrats have used racial gerrymandering to gain a political advantage in North Carolina. It complied. In its decision, the Supreme Court admitted that partisan gerrymandering is a problem, but one that is out of its jurisdiction, thus leaving the question of partisan gerrymandering at the state level. Challengers of the 2016 and 2018 North Carolina federal congressional districts made by the Rucho-Lewis plan argue that the map uses partisan gerrymandering to dilute the voting power of NC citizens. We’ll be releasing new puzzles over the upcoming weeks, highlighting the worst and weirdest gerrymanders in the country. However, lower courts determined this violated the … A North Carolina court threw out the state’s legislative map as an illegal gerrymander. By joining Slate Plus you support our work and get exclusive content. Gerrymandering: North Carolina congressional districts (current congress) (USA) [2,712 × 1,176 pixels] In anticipation of this new redistricting cycle, Slate is revamping our gerrymander puzzle game from 2013 as part of our Who Counts? The main argument in that case, Common Cause v. Lewis, is that the current maps are in violation of the state Constitution. But Republicans … North Carolinians did not elect another African American Representative to Congress until 1992. North Carolina A&T University – the largest historically black college in America – was split into two congressional districts. Since 2016, the case has gone back and forth between district courts and the US Supreme Court. The Republican state legislature in North Carolina created a more GOP-heavy congressional district. Smaller states have too few districts for gerrymandering to impact more than one or two seats. Find out how quickly you can put these states back together and learn everything that’s at stake in the next round of redistricting. North Carolina Republicans controlled the redistricting process in the state in 2011 and drew congressional and state legislative district lines that significantly benefited GOP lawmakers. In 2016 two districts in North Carolina … Since legislators draw districts, when a political party holds a majority they can draw districts that will keep them in power even if the political preferences of constituents change. FairDistrictsNC is a coalition of organizations committed to ending gerrymandering in North Carolina. ** If you’re interested in the history of gerrymandering in North Carolina, contact Historians for a Better Future (historiansforabetterfuture@gmail.com) to learn more about our traveling exhibit, an expanded version of the information above, to your event. With this case, the Court had the potential to render partisan gerrymandering unconstitutional. Gerrymandering has entrenched itself in North Carolina politics. North Carolina’s white Democrats effectively disenfranchised its African American citizens after 1898, leading to White’s departure from Congress. North Carolina Redistricting Cases: the 1990s. In 1990, the Democratic-led North Carolina General Assembly redistricted the state and created one black majority district, District 1, and another majority-minority district, the now notorious District 12. One protester held a sign emblazoned with “Make democracy more than a word in Chapel Hill,” calling into question the town’s commitment to social equality and political agency.In addition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Civil Rights activists won a lesser known victory for voting rights in the US Supreme Court case Baker v Carr (1962). After assuming control of the NC General Assembly in 2011, Republican lawmakers employed their Rucho-Lewis plan to redraw both federal and state voting districts. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/11/09/one-state-fixed-its-gerrymandered-districts-other-didnt-heres-how-election-played-out-both/?utm_term=.2126c9446d1a; https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article221282920.html. The new districts, however, will reflect population shifts in North Carolina's fast-growing cities, and this will make it harder for Republicans to diminish the political power of urban voters through gerrymandering. The opinion is the first federal court ruling to strike down a congressional map as representing a partisan gerrymander. Prior to this time, opponents of the state’s approach to voting districts focused their criticisms on the serpentine 12th Congressional district. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Help us cover the central question: “Who counts?” Your Slate Plus membership will fund our work on voting, immigration, gerrymandering, and more through 2020. The United States Constitution is silent on the issue of state legislative redistricting. [1] As the accompanying graph shows, the end result in a non-gerrymandered state would look much similar to the popular vote. initiative. The Black Second consisted of counties in the northeastern and coastal regions of North Carolina. Twenty-five years ago, North Carolina lawmakers drew the 12th district, creating the second majority-minority district in a state with a dark history … In North Carolina, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded at Raleigh’s Shaw University in 1960. Democrats did not have a candidate in Eastern North Carolina’s 3rd district, won by Republican incumbent Rep. Walter Jones. Your email address will not be published. Next year, state lawmakers will redraw the congressional district maps based on the 2020 census, a process mandated by the Constitution. There are also several bills that have recently been introduced to the state legislature that call for independent or non-partisan commissions in charge of fair creation of voting districts. In March 2019, the Supreme Court heard arguments for Common Cause/League of Women Voters v. Rucho. The case, Rucho v. North Carolina's 12th congressional district is a congressional district located in the city of Charlotte and surrounding areas in Mecklenburg County represented by Democrat Alma Adams.Prior to the 2016 elections, it was a gerrymandered district located in central North Carolina that comprised portions of Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Lexington, Salisbury, Concord, and High Point. The Case for Abolishing the Citizenship Exam, When Your First-Ever Vote Is Cast in 2020—for a Third-Party Candidate, What to Watch on Election Day in 10 Swing States. A Complicated Issue EmergesThe Voting Rights Act allowed state legislatures to create majority-minority districts—a district in which a historically disenfranchised minority comprises the majority population. Gerrymandering affects everyone by weakening citizens’ political voices. In response, North Carolina Democrats grouped as many of North Carolina’s Republican voters as possible into the state’s second congressional district, which became known as “the Black Second”. The current court case in front of the North Carolina Supreme Court or the bills in the state legislature could protect North Carolinians from this distortion of democracy in the future. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. The case effectively weakened the Voting Rights Act by creating narrow standards for what constitutes racial gerrymandering and what constitutes fair representation. All contents © 2021 The Slate Group LLC. The court relied on Hofeller’s secret files, which his daughter released after his death. The NC Supreme Court will hear a very similar case in July 2019. So I drew this map to help foster what I think is better for the country.” The plan packed as many Democrats as possible into three blue districts, then distributed the rest throughout dark-red districts where their votes wouldn’t matter. We are proud to announce The Office of Assessment and Accreditation has named History as one of its honorees for NC State’s Excellence in Assessment awards, 350 Withers Hall, Campus Box 8108, Raleigh, NC 27695-8108. The court ordered the North Carolina legislature to redraw congressional districts without using racial or partisan data. (The original Massachusetts "gerrymander" in 1812 may be more famous, but it was a legislative district.) Baker v Carr also caused a lasting impact on future state redistricting cases by giving federal courts the right to weigh in on state district cases. Did not have a candidate in Eastern North Carolina legislature to redraw the state ’ s Shaw University in.! 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