“This is gerrymandering on steroids.”

Voter lawsuits will challenge the pro-polluter legislature’s extreme partisan gerrymandered district maps, asserting the new maps are also racially discriminatory.

Gov. Roy Cooper told the Washington Post, “Oh yes, those maps will be challenged. This is gerrymandering on steroids.” The Post further reports, “Democrats and a number of interest groups are discussing a lawsuit and the best course forward, multiple sources familiar with the discussions say, including who should bring the suit and whether they should sue under the Voting Rights Act or bring a racial gerrymandering claim for equal protection under the 14th Amendment.”

Voters have good cause to be outraged about these new maps. They are designed for the sole purpose of concentrating power in the hands of a single political party, despite the fact that North Carolina is a highly competitive state in statewide elections—and would be in fairly drawn district maps as well.

“These overwhelmingly gerrymandered maps illustrate just how far Republican lawmakers will go to keep their political power. These lawmakers have stripped North Carolinians of their constitutional right to a representative government, consolidating their own power and silencing citizens across the state. This is not how our government was designed to work. Instead of letting voters choose their representatives, Republicans have chosen their voters. This allows them to continue to represent the corporate polluters and special interests that fund them,” said Dan Crawford, NCLCV’s Director of Governmental Relations.

“Behind closed doors, without any input from Democrats, community stakeholders, or most importantly, the public, Republican lawmakers split communities down to the precinct level, for no other reason than it being politically profitable to Republicans. Such brazen and downright despicable threats to our democracy clearly demonstrate the lengths they will go to in order to stay in power.”

“Finally, these maps are part of a long-term strategy by Republican politicians to disenfranchise Black voters. Courts have repeatedly ruled that voter ID laws, felony disenfranchisement, and racial gerrymandering discriminate against Black residents, who face the biggest threats of pollution and climate change.”