10/04/2022
Harper v. Hall NC Gerrymandering Case in the US Supreme Court Tuesday 11:00 am
With the 2022 midterms fast approaching we’re doing what we can to make sure that voters understand the stakes for fair districts and all the issues we care about. Join us to talk with voters during our upcoming phone banks in partnership with Pro-Choice North Carolina this Tuesday 10/4 and Thursday 10/6 at 6pm EST, or sign up to send postcards with our Fair Districts On The Line postcard program.
On Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 11am EST the Supreme Court of North Carolina will hear oral arguments in the Harper v Hall redistricting case at the Chowan County Courthouse in Edenton, NC. You can watch on YouTube, or follow AOTL NC organizer Bri Brough on Twitter for the live tweets from the courthouse.
The maps are in place for this election no matter what happens in court, but depending on the outcome of this case they could change before 2024.
How We Got Here
In 2021 the Republican-controlled North Carolina General Assembly passed new congressional and legislative maps following the decennial census. These maps were passed along party lines and were challenged in court as extreme partisan gerrymanders by voters and voting rights groups.
Following a trial in early 2022, a 3-judge panel of the NC Superior Court agreed with plaintiffs that the maps were extreme partisan gerrymanders but declined to overturn them. That decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of North Carolina, which struck down the maps and issued a ruling stating that maps that “diminish or dilute any individual's vote on the basis of partisan affiliation” are impermissible under our state constitution. This was a HUGE win for fair maps advocates!
At the court’s direction, the North Carolina General Assembly drew and passed new maps. The trial court accepted the remedial NC House and NC Senate maps but found that the congressional map did not comply with the NC Supreme Court’s ruling and ordered it redrawn by a panel of special masters. The map they drew is in place for the current election. It is a partisan-balanced map that accurately reflects the state’s 50/50 political makeup, but because it was not drawn by the General Assembly it will be redrawn before 2024.
All three maps are being challenged by various groups. Republican legislators are appealing the trial court’s rejection of the General Assembly’s remedial congressional map. The Harper Plaintiffs and the NC League of Conservation Voters are appealing the trial court’s adoption of the GA’s remedial NC Senate map. And Common Cause is appealing the trial court’s adoption of both the GA’s remedial NC Senate and NC House maps.
The outcome of this case could impact the NC House and NC Senate maps, but not until after the 2022 election. It won’t directly impact the NC congressional map, as that will be redrawn regardless of the outcome, but we’ll still be watching the court’s decision closely because it could have implications for Moore v Harper, the so-called “Independent State Legislature” case that the Supreme Court of the United States will consider this term. Stay tuned.
