logo
book Subscribe to our Magazine
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
    • Grassroots Fundraising Journal
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Podcasts
    • Tiny Spark
    • Women of Color in Power
  • Webinars
    • Free Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership

Will the Future of Voting Rights Be Decided in North Carolina?

Carole Levine
September 4, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

August 28, 2018; New York Times and Washington Post

North Carolina has become the poster child for gerrymandering cases that push the envelope. On Monday, August 27th, a three-judge federal panel ruled that the current congressional district map for North Carolina was unconstitutionally drawn to favor Republicans over Democrats and may need to be redrawn before the November elections. This follows a Supreme Court ruling NPQ wrote about in May 2017, in which North Carolina used race as a factor in drawing two of its congressional districts. The court ruled that these districts must be redrawn.

Now, in a state where Republicans currently hold 10 of the state’s 13 House seats in spite of vote totals that are about even, the federal judicial panel declared that something was awry. While the Republicans argued that the Democrats who brought the case did not have standing, the judges did not agree.

Judge James A. Wynn Jr. of the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, writing Monday for a special three-judge district court panel, said plaintiffs did have standing under the decision in Wisconsin’s Gill v. Whitford, which he said reinforced the judges’ earlier views that the congressional districts were drawn with improper partisan goals.

He said the court was leaning against giving the North Carolina legislature another chance to draw the congressional districts.

“We continue to lament that North Carolina voters now have been deprived of a constitutional congressional districting plan—and, therefore, constitutional representation in Congress—for six years and three election cycles,” Wynn wrote. “To the extent allowing the General Assembly another opportunity to draw a remedial plan would further delay electing representatives under a constitutional districting plan, that delay weighs heavily against giving the General Assembly another such opportunity.”

He proposed several unusual ideas: appointing a special master to draw new districts, holding general elections without party primaries or even turning the November elections into a primary and holding the general election sometime before the new Congress convenes in January.

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Clearly, time is of the essence in this. The North Carolina Republican party indicates it will ask the Supreme Court for a stay, which, if granted, would mean the midterm elections would be conducted under the partisan map that was just ruled unconstitutional. But there are issues with taking this case to the Supreme Court at this time: The Kennedy vacancy is not yet filled; five votes are required for a stay; the Senate vote on Kavanaugh (an anticipated 5th vote) isn’t expected until the end of September; and ballots need to be mailed to military voters and others before then.

Recognizing the timing dilemma, Justice Wynn requested briefs from both sides with their responses to his options by August 31st. Given the state of technology, the possibility of a new, nonpartisan map being drawn quickly is not so farfetched.

As a practical matter, two experts said on Tuesday, drawing a new House map for North Carolina would take less than a day’s work on a laptop. In a Pennsylvania gerrymandering case decided by that state’s supreme court in January, “our experts produced thousands in a few minutes that all complied with traditional redistricting criteria,” said Mimi McKenzie, the legal director of the Public Interest Law Center in Philadelphia, which won the case.

In the midst of the chaos of North Carolina politics, what may be missing to make this happen is the political will. But there is more at stake here than just the state politics of North Carolina. The entire House of Representatives is in play. And if control of the House shifts from Republican to Democrat, it could hinge on the mapping of districts in North Carolina. So, the eyes and ears of both parties are focused on how this will play out.

In the meantime, chaos rules. Political candidates are unsure of where their districts are or might be. Voters are unsure if they will be having another primary in November with newly drawn districts—one of the options—or voting in the partisan districts that existed before.

State politicians openly admit partisan bias. “I think electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats,” said Rep. David Lewis, a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly, addressing fellow legislators when they passed the plan in 2016. “So, I drew this map to help foster what I think is better for the country.”

For those who care about voting rights, much more is entwined. The value of a person’s vote is reflected in the ability to elect people who share their views to leadership positions. When that ability is diminished, whether based on politics or race, it discourages voting. North Carolina shows how gerrymandering can limit those who do not align with one party from having full representation. Given the timing and the possible partisan leanings of our courts, our future voting rights could hang in the balance.—Carole Levine

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carole Levine

Carole Levine is a principal consultant at Levine Partners, providing consulting services to small and medium-sized nonprofit organizations. She has held senior management positions in four national nonprofits: The National PTA (Deputy Executive Director); Communities in Schools (Vice President of Expansion and Technical Assistance); The Family Resource Coalition (Director of Technical Assistance); and National Lekotek Center (Director of Development). Carole holds a BA in education and political science from Washington University, and an M.Ed. in Early Childhood Leadership and Advocacy from National Louis University. Carole has served on the boards of numerous organizations, holding national positions on the board of National Council of Jewish Women and on the International Council of Jewish Women. She is currently the Chair of Courts Matter Illinois, serves on the board of Chicago Women Take Action and is active on the Promote the Vote Illinois Coalition. Carole is passionate about purposeful work, justice for all, advocacy and her family (which includes 6 amazing grandchildren!).

More about: Supreme Court voting rightsgerrymanderingNonprofit NewsPolicy

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Spring_2022

You might also like
Edgar Cahn’s Second Act: Time Banking and the Return of Mutual Aid
Steve Dubb
We Owe You Nothing: The Movement to Cancel Student Debt Gains Ground
Rithika Ramamurthy
Charitable Tax Reform: Why Half Measures Won’t Curb Plutocracy
Alan Davis
Green New Deal or Stale Old Tax-Break Scam? Getting Electric Vehicle Incentives Right
Greg LeRoy
Goodbye “Race Neutrality”—The Case for Race-Conscious Economic Policy
Dedrick Asante-Muhammad
Graduate Student Workers Are in the Frontline of the Growing Labor Movement
Rithika Ramamurthy

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
June 9th, 2 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Wage Justice, Now!

Register
You might also like
Edgar Cahn’s Second Act: Time Banking and the Return of...
Steve Dubb
We Owe You Nothing: The Movement to Cancel Student Debt...
Rithika Ramamurthy
Charitable Tax Reform: Why Half Measures Won’t Curb...
Alan Davis
WOMEN OF COLOR IN POWER
Women of Color in Power

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe
Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Authentic Leadership
Reclaiming Interrupted Lineages

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Submissions
  • Advertisers
  • Newsletters
  • Copyright

Subscribe to View Webinars

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.