North Carolina Voter ID Law On Appeal

North Carolina Voter ID Law On Appeal

By EditorJun 21, 2016
North Carolina - The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled oral argument this week on the challenge to the state's Voter Identification requirement for registering to vote.  The 2013 changes in the law include: a photo identification requirement a reduced early voting period elimination of same-day registration during the early voting period; and disqualification of ballots cast in the wrong voting precinct. A preliminary injunction is temporarily allowing out-of-precinct voting and same-day registration pending a court decision. Read more at WRAL.com.
Redistricting,
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Gerrymandering Explained by MTV

Gerrymandering Explained by MTV

By EditorMay 12, 2016
How does MTV explain gerrymandering to its core audience? With Oreo cookies of course.  Other snacks are used to portray how students in a class my divided based on their common snack interests.  The analogy leaves out crucial one-person one-vote issues, but provides a quick visual into the electoral map-drawing process.  Despite the shaky electoral analogies, the article discusses fairness issues in map-drawing and the role of commissions and ballot initiatives. Interestingly, the article reports on an initiative in North Carolina to demonstrate "good-government" redistricting via a panel of retired judges who will redraw the states' electoral map. This mock commission is…
Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, , , ,
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Federal Panel Rejects Two North Carolina Congressional Districts

Federal Panel Rejects Two North Carolina Congressional Districts

By EditorFeb 08, 2016
North Carolina - A federal court panel ruled late Friday that two of North Carolina’s 13 congressional districts were racially gerrymandered and must be redrawn within two weeks, sparking uncertainty about whether the March primary elections can proceed as planned. An order from a three-judge panel bars elections in North Carolina’s 1st and 12th congressional districts until new maps are approved. Read More.  
Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigation, Redistricting Race Rules
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Quarterly Redistricting Update: October 2014

Quarterly Redistricting Update: October 2014

By EditorFeb 16, 2015
Florida Fair Districts Case In early July, a circuit court judge in Tallahassee ruled Florida’s congressional map did indeed violate the state’s Fair Districts amendments outlawing partisan influenced linedrawing. The 5th and 10th congressional districts were singled out by the court as requiring modification. The judge added that Florida’s Republican legislature made a “mockery” of the Fair Districts Amendments and used political consultants on the sly to draw the map. In early August, the legislature approved a new map, which made changes to 7 districts in total - but Common Cause, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, says the map does…
Uncategorized, , , ,
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Voting Rights and Campaign Finance Intersect in NC Lawsuit

By EditorOct 16, 2013
Plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the NC Legislature's redistricting map have requested for a second time that one of three judges on the panel hearing the case recuse himself. That judge, Paul Newby, had benefited from over $1 million in independent expenditures funded by the Washington-based Republican State Leadership Committee. The same group retained the map-drawer for the North Carolina districts in question under the lawsuit. This is not the first time plaintiffs in the case have asked for judge Newby's removal, Last year, the state supreme court denied a similiar request. The stakes are high at this point in…
Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation
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