Feds approve N.C. voting maps - Democratic Underground

mmonk

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Wed Nov-02-11 07:17 AM
Original message

Feds approve N.C. voting maps

The U.S. Justice Department approved North Carolina's new voting maps Tuesday night, taking away a major roadblock to next year's elections but leaving open the door to new lawsuits.

The Obama administration's decision handed a victory to the state's Republican mapmakers.

"I feel like a tremendous weight has been lifted," said Rep. David Lewis, a Harnett County Republican who led the House redistricting effort. "It's a strong statement that our plans met their objectives, which was to follow the law."

The Justice Department approved - or pre-cleared - new legislative and congressional voting districts that most analysts say would give Republicans an electoral edge for at least a decade. It was the first time in more than a century that GOP lawmakers drew voting maps.

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/11/02/1612912/feds-approve-nc-voting-maps.html#ixzz1cY8QOKJc

Because someone like me in Raleigh in Wake County has so much in common with rural residents of Sampson county.:eyes:

And people wonder why I'm 100% cynical now.

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mmonk

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Wed Nov-02-11 07:31 AM
Response to Original message

1. Breakdown of voter registration in NC.

Dem.= 2,715,578
Rep.= 1,940,966
Lib.= 12,007
Unaffiliated= 1,498,908

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FBaggins

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Wed Nov-02-11 07:59 AM
Response to Reply #1

4. Not uncommon in the South

Party affiliation at the local level doesn't always translate to electoral success for national offices.

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mmonk

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Wed Nov-02-11 08:05 AM
Response to Reply #4

6. Read the whole thing.

Edited on Wed Nov-02-11 08:07 AM by mmonk

We have had Democratic Party majorities in our congressional delegations and split representation in the Senate. NC went Obama in 2008. This is the first Republican legislature since Reconstruction as it says this is the first time Republicans have been able to draw a map in 100 years.

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FBaggins

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Wed Nov-02-11 09:19 AM
Response to Reply #6

9. I did. I'm explaining why you aren't getting what you expect.

We have had Democratic Party majorities in our congressional delegations

Which has been almost entirely the result of successful gerrymandering on our part for decades.

Again, this is not at all uncommon. Redistricting power (for both state legislature and US House races) often allows one party to retain political control longer than the overall vote would allow.

NC went Obama in 2008

By fewer votes than Bob Barr received (in the low tenths of a percent)... and how about the prior few elections? Carter in 76 was the last time we won (or it was even close). Is your point really that there are more Democrats here than Republicans by the national definition?

Call them "DINOs" or "moderates" or whatever you like, but the simple fact is that there are lots of people in the state who are registered as Democrats but who you can't rely on to vote for someone that most here on DU would consider a real Democrat.

And that's nothing at all new.

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ProdigalJunkMail

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Wed Nov-02-11 07:33 AM
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2. Gerrymandering and really any layout of voting districts is so

out of control (and has been for decades) ...

sP

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nc4bo

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Wed Nov-02-11 07:34 AM
Response to Original message

3. Setting their ducks in a row here.

Sickening and I can only hope the lawsuits flow fast and furious.

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seafan

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Wed Nov-02-11 08:02 AM
Response to Original message

5. This does not bode well for Florida.

WTF is wrong with DOJ?

Wait, I think I know. There are still in place Bush-Cheney holdovers and "burrowers", especially in the civil rights division. (Along with the Pentagon, and State....)

And this administration is not inclined to flush them out.

Feds approve N.C. voting maps

November 2, 2011

.....

North Carolina has had a checkered history of redistricting. Since 1981, the Justice Department has rejected plans eight times. Legal challenges delayed N.C. elections in 1998 and 2002. North Carolina's 12th Congressional District was the subject of four decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court.

.....

The federal approval came hours after the General Assembly acknowledged flaws in their maps, which Democrats were quick to jump on, saying they are the by-product of GOP plans that split voting precincts.

More than 220 areas of the state were left out of the redistricting laws for state House, state Senate and Congressional districts.

Rucho said he knew that some census blocks were not assigned to districts, but said it wasn't a big deal, and he didn't believe the problem would hold up federal approval. ..... In a memo to Rucho and Lewis on Tuesday, legislative staff explained the problems as a "technical issue" that omitted census blocks in the legislative, congressional, Wake Superior Court and Greene County Commissioner districts.

The problem was with the software code that translated the maps into bill language, according to the memo. The problems were located in some areas where voting precincts were split between two or more districts.

.....

This ruling does not bode well for a fair outcome in Florida's redistricting shenanigans by controlling Republicans.

Software glitches work out very well for them.

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INdemo

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Wed Nov-02-11 08:17 AM
Response to Original message

7. We have given the Obama administration the benefit of the doubt on

several issues when his decisions were in line with Republicans.Talk to any Democrat that follows political news at a minimum and I think most of them will say" There wont be any noticeable difference with Romney".

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mmonk

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Wed Nov-02-11 09:06 AM
Response to Reply #7

8. I quit that a while back.

It gets hard to believe against reality sometimes. Are there differences? Sure. Enough differences? Not enough to bring improvement to our lives IMO. Will I ever vote for a Republican? Of course not. Will I willingly vote for Republican ideology? Not willingly, I would have to be conned into it.

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