A panel of judges in North Carolina unanimously ruled that more than 40% of the state's General Assembly districts are unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders and that those districts must be redrawn.
This is a huge win in the fight for fair maps. Since the Supreme Court ruled in June that federal courts won't protect voters against partisan gerrymandering, decisions like these must be won on the state level.
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Here's why this court decision matters:
Vox explained that North Carolina is so gerrymandered it could "no longer be classified as a full democracy" -- the fact that politicians in this state are finally being held accountable for extreme partisan map manipulation is a big deal.
For the past decade, politicians have drawn North Carolina's districts with surgical precision to unfairly maintain power -- first along racial, then political lines. As the court ruling stated, in drawing the current maps, the General Assembly acted with "partisan intent to create legislative districts that perpetuated a Republican-controlled" assembly.
Manipulated maps have often been drawn behind closed doors, hidden away from the public. We believe transparency is essential to fair maps and the court agreed. This decision emphasizes the importance of transparency by requiring that any new maps drawn by the North Carolina legislature must be drawn in full public view, at public hearings. Because as we've seen in North Carolina, as elsewhere, politicians are able to tip the scales in their favor when maps are drawn in the dark.
All On The Line is going to ask folks from Raleigh to Asheville, from Greensboro to the Triad, and all across the state to participate in this public process in every way possible. This court ruling is an opportunity for North Carolinians to take power back and finally get fair lines through a transparent dialogue with legislators and map drawers. This moment is why we've invested in building grassroots teams in the state.
All On The Line is committed to building a movement that holds politicians accountable in the redistricting process. But it takes support from folks like you to make sure volunteers are armed with the tools and resources they need. Help end gerrymandering by donating to the fight for fair maps.
--All On The Line Rapid Response Team
All On The Line is the grassroots advocacy campaign supported by the National Redistricting Action Fund.
