redistricting
State Board of Elections director Karen Brinson Bell on important changes coming to NC elections
A trio of rulings handed down by the Republican majority of the North Carolina Supreme Court will soon bring some big and important changes to the state’s elections. Not only will a photo ID now be required for all who cast ballots – even by mail – but thousands of formerly incarcerated people who regained […]
NC Supreme Court gerrymandering reversal highlights urgent need for congressional action
In recent years, state courts have been rare bright spots in the fight against gerrymandering, with voters around the country successfully using state constitutions to challenge politically skewed voting maps drawn by both major parties. But growing momentum in state courts took a stumble last week with the deeply troubling decision by the North Carolina Supreme Court to […]
Despair and hope for the state of our democracy in a single day
One supposes that state Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger really believed what he was doing and saying in 2009 when he and several other Republicans, including current House Speaker Tim Moore, sponsored legislation to end partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina. Berger and his fellow Senate Republicans were serious enough about the measure they introduced […]
After switch, they’re set to party hearty
The forces in North Carolina’s General Assembly aligned with what typically are seen as progressive causes – including strong public schools, fair and adequate taxation, wide access to decent health care, racial justice, elections open to meaningful participation by all qualified voters – began the month of April with their hopes hanging by a thread. […]
Should the US Supreme Court dismiss the elections law case from North Carolina? The parties have their say.
Lawyers for NC Republican legislators, voting rights groups, and the U.S Department of Justice told the US Supreme Court whether they think the justices should still decide a case watched nationwide for its potential impact on election laws, even though the issues are still being argued in a North Carolina court. The US Supreme Court […]
NC Freedom to Vote Act would protect and improve our democracy
The freedom to vote has faced serious challenges in recent years. New voting restrictions, rampant disinformation, threats to voters and election officials, and even violent attempts to overturn election results have led to growing concern about the future of our democracy and election process.
State Supreme Court revisits redistricting rulings it issued in just months ago
A Democratic court majority struck down maps as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders, but a new GOP majority has been asked to do an about-face. State Republican legislators Tuesday brought their argument that courts cannot bar partisan redistricting to a friendlier state Supreme Court than the one that ruled against them last year.
NC Supreme Court picks dates to rehear voter ID, redistricting cases
The North Carolina Supreme Court will rehear oral arguments in redistricting and voter ID cases in mid-March, according to a calendar posted to their website late last week. The high court issued rulings on the two cases, authored by the then-Democratic majority, last year. The majority invalidated Republicans’ voter ID law and ruled that the […]
Voting rights attorney Hilary Harris Klein of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice
Voting rights attorney Hilary Harris Klein of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice on the state Supreme Court’s recent controversial decision to revisit two rulings on gerrymandering and voter ID that were handed down just last December
New Republican majority on the NC Supreme Court agrees to rehear voter ID and redistricting cases
The state Supreme Court’s new Republican majority will rehear cases on voter photo ID and redistricting that were decided against Republican legislators less than two months ago. In December, the then-Democratic majority on the state’s highest court held that the voter ID law the Republican legislative majority pushed through in 2018 was enacted with “an […]
NC Republicans want Supreme Court opinions that went against them tossed
North Carolina Republican legislators have asked the state Supreme Court to throw out last year’s opinions on voter ID and redistricting and grant new hearings. Court rulings striking down a voter ID law as racially discriminatory and redistricting plans as partisan gerrymanders were written and approved by a four-member Democratic majority on the seven-member Supreme […]