North Carolina's political maps are expected to give Republicans majorities in the state legislature, and the U.S. House of Representatives delegation, even if Democrats win a majority of the statewide vote.
Lawyers representing state legislative leaders were in court Thursday in Raleigh, arguing to throw out an anti-gerrymandering lawsuit that targets the state's new political districts.
The lawsuit argues that the state constitution guarantees the right to fair elections, and it says the new districts violate that promise. The Republican-led legislature argues that no such right exists, since it's impossible to define what "fair" means.
I'm sure that it will be fixed after this election and broken again before the next. The Supreme Court made sure of that back in 2022 with the Merrill v Milligan verdict where they admited that the racially gerrymandered districts were illegal, but allowed to be used anyways so long as it's relatively close to an election.
When an election is close at
hand, the rules of the road must be clear and settled. Late judicial tinkering with election laws can lead to disruption and to unanticipated and unfair consequences for candidates, political parties, and voters, among others.
Late judicial tinkering with election laws can lead to disruption and to unanticipated and unfair consequences for candidates, political parties, and voters, among others.
I wonder if there's anything else that'd be unfair? You know like making the votes of citizens not reflect their demographics