We have had some good wins, but we must move forward and for right now that means, get local. One local issue the citizens of NC have to contend with is a blatant infringement of the NC Constitution regarding districting.
The NC constitution requires congressional and senate districts to follow county lines in an effort to stem gerrymandering.
Article II Section 3 paragraph 3 States: No County shall be divided in the formation of a senate district.
Article II Section 5 Paragraph 3 States: No County shall be divided in the formation of a representative district.
But, Brad Miller ignored the NC Constitution not only when he helped draw the many districts across NC, but also his own gerrymandered district following the 2000 census. Brad Miller, it seems, has a penchant for disenfranchising voters of both parties for his benefit.
According to western.ncfreedom.us:
Division of Counties Must Be Minimized:
Article II of the State Constitution says that in drawing State House and Senate districts, no county shall be divided. In 1981, the US Department of Justice said that requirement was inconsistent with the Voting Rights Act, so the General Assembly disregarded it for 21 years. Then in 2002 the State Supreme Court in the case of Stephenson v. Bartlett said the “Whole County Provision”, found in the State Constitution must be honored to the extent it can be honored, consistent with the Voting Rights Act and other State and federal precepts. The Stephenson decision for the first time said the equal protection clause of the State Constitution contained a presumption for single-member legislative districts, and that presumption should be a limitation on the Whole County Provision. The US Justice Department approved the Stephenson opinion and withdrew its 1981 objection to the Whole County Provision. The Court in Stephenson prescribed a step-by-step method for harmonizing the Whole County Provision with the other laws.
- First, the General Assembly should draw the districts required by the Voting Rights Act.
- Second, it should take all the counties with just the right population to be single-member districts and make them one-county single-member districts.
- Third, it should take all the counties that have just the right populations for one or more districts and divide those counties into compact single-member districts.
- Fourth, for the remaining counties it should group them into clusters of counties and divide the clusters into compact single-member districts, crossing county lines within the cluster as little as possible.
It is time the citizens of NC hold our state's constitution to the feet of those who draw the congressional districts.
TeaParty, lets crush NC gerrymandering.
out
Commons sense will crush your tea bag party
ReplyDeleteCommon sense recognizes that there was an election this past Nov 2 that has already crushed your "common sense".
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