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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 31, 2017
July 31, 2017
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DLCC Readying for 2018 After North Carolina Anti-GOP Gerrymandering Ruling
Federal Judges Deal New Blow to Republicans’ Use of Race to Silence Voters, Orders Redrawing of Maps
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tonight Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee Executive Director Jessica Post commended the court’s decision in the North Carolina case against Republican gerrymandering, handing down an order to redraw the legislative maps by September 1st. The Supreme Court of the United States recently upheld a District Court decision striking down 28 legislative districts as unconstitutional after plaintiffs presented clear evidence showing Republican lawmakers’ used race as a factor to illegally draw district lines. Republicans have one month to draw a map devoid of unconstitutional gerrymanders and, if they fail to meet court standards, the court could strip the party of this essential responsibility and impose its own remedial district plan.
“North Carolina Republicans illegally diluted the voices of minority voters, and this ruling is an important step towards ensuring all North Carolinians have the fair representation they deserve,” said Post. “This ruling has only reinvigorated DLCC’s commitment to breaking Republicans’ inflated control of the North Carolina Legislature, and we will use the time between now and next November to recruit winning candidates and ensure the new maps meet the court’s standards. DLCC continues our crucial fight to elect more Democratic lawmakers to rebalance the map-drawing process ahead of crucial 2020 redistricting.”
Today’s ruling is the latest in a series of legal blows to Republican gerrymandering across the country. On the Supreme Court docket is a Republican gerrymandering case out of Wisconsin that could trigger special elections. Earlier this year, SCOTUS dealt a blow to Virginia Republican lawmakers’ unconstitutional use of racial gerrymandering to dilute the influence of African-American voters. In late January, a three-judge panel in the 11th Circuit declared 12 of Alabama’s legislative districts to be unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.
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