Hold the primary but fix the maps and process too
Published February 9, 2016
Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, February 9, 2016.
That possibly apocryphal Chicago electoral advice about voting early and often may become a reality for some North Carolina voters this year.
Even as absentee voters fill out their primary ballots, federal judges ruled two North Carolina congressional districts are unconstitutionally drawn and racially discriminatory. The judges ordered the the 1st and 12th districts redrawn by Feb. 19.
It's hard to imagine how a legislature not even in session can accomplish that task in what is now less than two weeks. The General Assembly's top redistricting authorities - Harnett County Rep. David Lewis and Charlotte Sen. Bob Rucho - said it may be necessary to postpone the primary. The election was scheduled two months earlier than its traditional date to build voter interest. In most previous presidential contests, nominations were settled long before our primary was held.
Even if lawmakers could redraw and approve the revamped districts by the judicial deadline - at best doubtful - the judges' order was too late on the day it was issued. Nearly 9,000 absentee ballots have already been sent out and many are on their way back to be counted.
The two districts in question are certainly bizarre. Both are represented by African-American Democrats. The 1st, represented by G.K. Butterfield, stretches from Elizabeth City to Durham. It snakes through 24 counties. The 12th, represented by Alma Adams, is a thin strip that follows Interstate 85 from Charlotte all the way to Greensboro. Both were designed to bunch as many Democrats as possible into as few districts as possible. The mapmakers might have succeeded if it were only about political parties - the U.S. Supreme Court has long held redistricting is inherently political.
The legal trap is that many of those Democrats are also African-Americans, and gathering more of them than necessary to assure representation by a member of their own race diluted their voting power in other districts.
As a practical matter, it's too late to halt the primary, since it's already under way. The state filed an emergency appeal Monday ad may need to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. A stay won't change the fact that the districts need redrawing, but that can be completed after the primary and well before the November elections.
The case is also another reason why our state's system of gerrymandering needs to go. Lawmakers from both parties have long supported creation of a nonpartisan redistricting commission. Let's make that happen, as soon as possible.
February 9, 2016 at 8:37 am
Richard L Bunce says:
USSC needs to clarify to keep Federal judges in line... No people in the process, no demographic data in the process, no gerrymandering.
http://rangevoting.org/GerryExec.html
