2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumWatchdog files lawsuit alleging gerrymandering in NC
By Reid Wilson
A liberal-leaning government watchdog group on Friday filed suit over North Carolina congressional districts they say give Republicans an unfair advantage, launching a new round of litigation that could have far-reaching effects for years to come.
The lawsuit, filed by Common Cause in U.S. District Court, alleges Republicans in the North Carolina state legislature improperly considered the partisan makeup of each district when they redrew district lines earlier this year. Under those lines, Republicans are likely to win ten of the state's 13 House seats in November.
Federal courts have struck down gerrymandered district maps before -- including North Carolina's -- but courts have never overturned district lines drawn with specifically partisan purposes in mind. "Perhaps for the first time ever in North Carolina, state legislators have freely and publicly admitted that they gerrymandered for rank partisan advantage," Common Cause NC executive director Bob Phillips said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
If the court sides against North Carolina Republicans, it could open the floodgates to legal challenges in other states where Democrats and Republicans have drawn lines with clear partisan intent.
North Carolina Republicans drew the current boundaries after a federal court ruled their earlier lines, drawn after the 2010 Census, improperly diminished the political power of African-American voters. Rather than allow a federal court to rearrange district lines, state legislators in February offered a quick fix that satisfied federal courts while maintaining the ten Republican, three Democrat mix of the state's congressional delegation.
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http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/redistricting/290641-watchdog-files-lawsuit-alleging-gerrymandering-in-nc
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)summerschild
(725 posts)we will never be able to take the House again.