Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1058645
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM DECEMBER 5-11, 2018 UCW 9 "Electoral districts drawn fairly by professionals tend to produce results that reflect the political makeup of the state's voters, and the way they vote." e Associated Press reached that conclusion following an extensive analysis of 2018 vot- ing patterns in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. e A.P. found that electoral districts drawn by politicians with the aim of keeping themselves in control tended to produce results that bore little resem- blance to the state's real politi- cal balance or the way voters cast their ballots. Cumberland County's House of Representatives District 45, held by Repub- lican John Szoka, is one of nearly 100 legislative districts across the state that a new lawsuit alleges violates the North Carolina Constitution. e suit contends North Carolina's legislative maps were designed, or gerrymandered, to guarantee that Republican can- didates would win a majority of the seats in the state House and Senate. Partisan gerrymandering, which refers to redis- tricting that favors one political party, has a long tradition in the United States that precedes the 1789 elec- tion of the first U.S. Congress. e word gerrymander was used for the first time in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 26, 1812. e word was used in response to a redraw- ing of Massachusetts state senate districts under then- Gov. Elbridge Gerry, who signed a bill that redistricted Massachusetts to benefit his Democratic-Republican Party. In the 1812 election, both the Massachusetts House and governorship were won by Federalists by a comfort- able margin, costing Gerry his position. Historians believe Federalist newspaper editors Nathan Hale and Benjamin and John Russell were the instigators of the name. e new lawsuit was filed this month by the North Carolina Democratic Party, the Common Cause North Carolina governmental accountability orga- nization and 22 Democratic and unaffiliated voters. It's the newest in years of legal battles over the con- stitutionality of gerrymandering. e suit contends the Republican gerrymander violates numerous provisions of the state Constitution. Plaintiffs want the state senate and house maps revised in time for the 2020 elections. e gist of the complaint alleges that House and Senate district boundaries were intentionally drawn to place as many Democratic-favoring voters as possible into as few districts as possible statewide so that a major- ity of the 120 House districts and 50 Senate districts would be dominated by Republican voters. Cumberland County is heavily Democratic. Of more than 220,000 registered voters, 45 percent are Democrats. ere are more independent voters than Republicans. About 31.5 percent are unaffiliated and almost 23 percent are Republicans. e remain- der are in the Libertarian Party, the Green Party or Constitution Party. e GOP challenge was to create at least one of the county's four house districts as a majority Republican area. e legislature used a device called packing. "e General Assembly packed most of the Democratic areas of Cumberland County into three of the four districts in this cluster, House Districts 42, 43, and 44," the suit contends. "e General As- sembly packed the Democratic voters to create one Republican-leaning district in Cumberland County, House District 45." Republican Szoka won that seat. A tale of two states by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS JEFF THOMPSON, Reporter. COM- MENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910-484-6200. Rep. John Szoka, R-N.C. Choose from over 250 programs of study in the areas of Arts & Humanities, Business, Computer Information Technology, Engineering & Applied Technology, Health, Math & Sciences, and Public Service Associate Degrees, Certificates, Diplomas Fayetteville - Spring Lake - Fort Bragg Spring Classes Register Now! 16-Week Classes begin Jan. 14th The SMART choice for Education (910) 678-8400 • www.faytechcc.edu