Process for Drawing New Congressional Maps May Look a Lot Like One Used for Legislative Districts | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal, and written by Brooke Conrad.


    Don't retire the lottery machines just yet. Experts say the General Assembly may soon enter another round of map redraws.

    The speculation stems from an Oct. 28 court injunction, in which a three-judge panel in Harper v. Lewis ordered no preparations be made for the 2020 congressional elections based on 2016 maps. The fact the court was willing to stall election preparations suggests plaintiffs will likely win the case, leaving legislators to draw new maps, said Michael Bitzer, professor of politics and history at Catawba College.

    "I think it was a heads up to the legislature that they'll need to address this issue," Bitzer said, referring to the court's injunction.

    It's possible lawmakers could begin redrawing those districts as early as Nov. 18, when they return to the capital. Bitzer suspects the court's injunction was intentionally laying the groundwork for the legislature to begin that process.

    It's also possible the legislature would redraw the maps without a hearing, Bitzer suggested. If lawmakers do go through with a hearing, it may become necessary to push the primaries back from May. The court has already noted it retains the right to move primary dates if necessary.

    That would certainly be the simplest approach, noted former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr. The court is already up to speed on the issues because of the July trial involving the state legislative districts, and many of the arguments would likely be the same. It's just a matter of identifying what particular problems need to be corrected.

    As far as a timeline for redrawing the maps, it could be relatively short. The state maps were completed within a two-week deadline. Also, there's only 13 districts to consider this time, rather than 120, noted Andy Taylor, professor of political science at N.C. State University. And with the congressional districts, lawmakers aren't drawing their own maps, meaning they might take less interest in "wrangling" them, Taylor said.

    He said the 2016 congressional maps would probably be struck down, since they likely violate the same principles the state maps did. By allowing no use of partisan data, the court has set a high bar.

    "It's hard to imagine, if the state legislative maps don't clear that bar, that the congressional maps would," Taylor said.

    To issue an injunction, the court not only has to have ample evidence plaintiffs will win, but also has to prove that not providing the injunction would cause "irreparable loss." In this case, Orr said, if the court didn't stop the election process with the current maps, North Carolinians would undergo the irreversible harm of voting in unconstitutional districts.

    "You won't be able to undo the 2020 elections if you ultimately determine these maps were unconstitutionally drawn," he said.

    One other question, Bitzer noted, is whether plaintiffs would appeal the court's decision on their other Oct 28 ruling, in which they threw out plaintiffs' objections to the House map-making process. It's possible, Bitzer said, plaintiffs could appeal their objections to the N.C. Supreme Court, but at this point it's unclear what they'll do.

    Nevertheless, the court praised the process lawmakers used to redraw the maps in September, Taylor noted.

    "The court was laudatory with regards to the process, calling it bipartisan and transparent," Taylor said. "And I think clearly the Republican majorities in the House and Senate worked hard to do that."
Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Hurricane Disaster Recovery Bill Focuses on Resiliency Funding Carolina Journal, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics Vaping Tax Vanishes From Modified Senate Tax-Cut Bill


HbAD0

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

most voters think EU officials not doing a good job on illegal immigration
Be careful what you wish for, you may get it
Come from behind by GOP candidate is a blueprint to 2024
Biden spending and energy policies to blame
Tuberculosis carried by illegal invaders has already infected Texas cattle

HbAD1

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said this week that the only campaign promise President Joe Biden has delivered on as president is the complete dismantling of the U.S. southern border.
Hamas is reeling after losing two of their most cherished leaders on the same day: military commander Saleh al-Arouri, and Harvard President Claudine Gay.
President Joe Biden’s brother told the Internal Revenue Service that Hunter Biden told him he was in business with a “protege of President Xi,” referring to the leader of China, according to notes by an IRS investigator that were divulged during a congressional interview of Jim Biden.
Gov. Roy Cooper seeks a temporary restraining order to block a law changing the composition of the State Board of Elections.
X owner Elon Musk mocked a news segment from ABC News this week that promoted President Joe Biden’s talking points about the Democrat-led Senate’s failed border bill, which critics and many experts have said would make the situation on the border worse.
That’s the question Marguerite Roza of Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab sought to answer in a recent webinar on the topic.

HbAD2

The University of Florida has fired all of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employees and shut down its DEI office.

HbAD3

 
Back to Top