Just one week after the United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal to reinstate North Carolina’s controversial voter identification law, another blow was dealt to North Carolina’s Republican-held General Assembly. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that North Carolina’s Districts 1 and 12 were drawn with explicit racial bias in mind, upholding a February 2016 federal district court ruling in the same vein.
Not only does this ruling once more expose the corruption within North Carolina’s legislature, but it also raises questions about the future of North Carolina’s elected officials in Congress, and whether or not they will stay in office for their full terms. For anyone still confused as to what this ruling means, let me enlighten you: it’s a good thing.
Upon careful perusal of the maps drawn after the 2010 census, the Supreme Court found that District 1, often likened to an octopus, was drawn to encompass typically liberal black voters in such a way that the number of black voters in surrounding districts was significantly lessened, thereby ensuring more districts voting Republican in elections.
While the racial bias in District 1 was unanimously agreed on by the SCOTUS, the racial bias in District 12 was contested by 3 justices: Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Anthony Kennedy and Chief Justice John Roberts. Nonetheless, the ruling stated that District 12, which stretched in a snake-like fashion down Interstate 85, was also drawn to include as many black voters as possible.
Justice Alito’s dissent against the ruling for District 12 called into question whether the district was drawn on racial bias, or political bias, the latter of which, he argued, was not something the Court could rule as unconstitutional. Although it is broadly understood today that the two are rarely mutually exclusive, in this case, it is clear that there was an element of racial gerrymandering involved in the original drawing of District 12.
With the influence of racial gerrymandering in the composition of North Carolina’s 13 House districts, North Carolina’s representation is unfairly composed of 10 Republicans, compared to just three Democrats, two of whom represent the contested black-majority districts.
Voters in Wake County, including students registered to vote at their university address, do not fall within the two congressional districts in question. However, redrawing Districts 1 and 12 as per the Supreme Court’s ruling will mean significant changes in surrounding districts.
With the voter ID law appeal having been rejected, and the districts having been found unconstitutional and racially biased, it is likely that North Carolina’s Republican-dominated congressional representation will soon change its tune to something more liberal.
This is a chance for voices previously suppressed through unconstitutional districting and strict voter identification requirements to have their votes heard and counted toward fairer, more accurate representation at a federal level.
Thus, if you have yet to register to vote at a new address, or at all, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible. Our voices, which conservative legislators tried so hard to suppress, deserve to be heard. This is our future on the line — shouldn’t we have a say in how it plays out?
*Editor’s note: This column originally incorrectly stated that the Supreme Court ruling would have an impact on North Carolina’s state legislative elections.
