Legislative Watch: Fair Redistricting Plan Introduced

A bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers has introduced a new plan to end gerrymandering in North Carolina legislative and congressional redistricting.

Environmental advocates cheered last week’s introduction of House Bill 69, “Nonpartisan Redistricting Commission,” which would shift control over drawing district lines from the legislature to an 11-member commission. The legislation contains specifics regarding the appointment of members and criteria required for drawing maps which are intended to minimize partisan advantage. The current atmosphere of uncertainty regarding next year’s election results is contributing to increased optimism that legislators may approve action this year to establish a more level political playing field going forward.

North Carolina’s current district maps are intentionally designed to provide one of the most extreme partisan advantages of any state in the nation. This has reduced the number of competitive legislative and congressional races in most election years, and made it difficult for new candidates to effectively challenge incumbents based on their environmental and other policy stances.

NC League of Conservation Voters executive director Carrie Clark said, “Gerrymandering artificially entrenches anti-environment politicians in power. When they stay in office despite voters’ best efforts to kick them out, polluters win and people lose. That’s why we continue to see no action on climate change, no solution for hog waste, no pressure on Duke Energy to clean up coal ash, and no movement toward a clean energy future.”

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