Today’s Links
Articles:
Charlotte News & Observer – NC’s highest court rules on gerrymandered legislature’s power, but the case isn’t over
Southern Environmental Law Center – North Carolina Supreme Court rules that racially gerrymandered legislature does not have unlimited authority to change NC’s Constitution
Ballotpedia – Voter ID in North Carolina
Groups Taking Action:
North Carolina NAACP, Southern Environmental Law Center, Forward Justice
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
Here’s a fascinating case from North Carolina that you’ll hear more about in the mainstream press in the next few days. The North Carolina Supreme Court has conditionally ruled that because the state’s legislature was elected with gerrymandered voting maps, state constitutional amendments enacted in 2018 may be invalid.
The case is being called “groundbreaking” and could have huge implications, but it’s not yet settled. Ballotpedia & the Charlotte News & Observer report that in 2018, voters passed a constitutional amendment to require photo ID to vote. Shortly after, the legislature passed SB 824 to codify it. The governor vetoed it, which the legislature then overrode, precipitating the lawsuits.
Voting rights advocates argued that 28 districts were knowingly racially gerrymandered, and that two-thirds of the districts needed to be redrawn to be in compliance with the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Under that argument, the legislature therefore did not have the legal authority to propose the amendment in the first place. The state supreme court agreed.
The state high court did not overturn the amendment, however. It returned the case to the lower court with guidance and questions, and asked for a more rigorous opinion that the state’s high court could further consider.
North Carolina NAACP’s Deborah Maxwell, said of the ruling, “Rigging elections by trampling on the rights of Black voters has consequences.”
See links to articles and groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.