SCOTUS issues NC voting decision
The Supreme Court issued a ruling in Bartlett v Strickland today, a case that involves voting districts in the Pender County area. Click here for a PDF of the decision. This is the AP's early report on the topic.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — An attorney representing Pender County officials who sued North Carolina in a redistricting case is thrilled his clients have won at the U.S. Supreme Court.The nation's highest court ruled Monday that a federal civil rights law doesn't require North Carolina to draw legislative districts in which black residents comprise less than half the voting-age population.
The justices said in a 5-4 decision that such gerrymandering is required only if a district has a numerical majority of black voters, even if that voting block is potentially strong enough to determine an election's outcome.
Attorney Trey Thurman represents current and former county commissioners who originally sued in 2004, after lawmakers redrew district lines and split the county based on racial makeup.
On its face, I don't see this suit having an immediate impact on Guilford County. Only two of the county's ten legislative districts cross county lines. Both are senate districts held by Republicans and both were drawn to round-out raw numbers rather than racial make-up.
Comments (5)
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what does that mean for Bingham and Berger?
Posted on March 10, 2009 12:35 AM
I'm no lawyer, but I think the short term implication is minimal. The state has to draw districts that satisfy "one man, one vote." The supreme court case only challenged drawing districts across boundaries for purposes of racial balance - or imbalance as the case may be.
There's an easy short-run fix, should the honorables take it.
That said: a) the honorables don't always take the easy path, even when it's the most sensible and b) there could be some long-term implications for how districts are drawn that make Berger and Bingham more or less secure in their seats. Although, there would have to be some pretty major changes to make either one of those seats really competitive.
Posted on March 10, 2009 12:42 AM
since both of these senators cross county boundaries , I would hope that they can take them out of the mix here in Guilford County and have a more competitive race in both Dorsett and Vaughan because it seems to me that Phil berger gets all of the republican strongholds and takes away from even a fighting chance at both races in Guilford County.
Since it is state law to not cross county lines it should be brought to court for a ruling along with what just happened up in washington.
Remember I am a still learning about state government so be gentle on the response
Posted on March 10, 2009 6:53 PM
Keith,
I believe that the district restrictions in the state constitution only apply to House seats and only when the district cannot be drawn whole within a county. There are only 50 senators, so districts must cross county lines. There are plenty of counties that do not have enough residents to have a single House district represent. Think of needing to have 50-60K people per district and you quickly see that some districts must be multi-county.
Posted on March 17, 2009 11:39 AM
bruce I could be wrong but check out article 2 section 3 number 3 here is the link.
http://www.ncleg.net/Legislation/constitution/article2.html
Posted on March 17, 2009 11:32 PM