Redistricting Information and Upcoming Meetings

Redistricting is a Social Work Issue
Holly Edmondson, NASW-NC Intern

Redistricting, or the process of redrawing election district boundaries, is important for many reasons. Redistricting only happens once every ten years with the release of census data, so it is an infrequent opportunity to advocate for voting equity in our state. With the significant population growth in North Carolina, it is important that new maps are drawn in a fair and equitable way to create even grounds for elections. Legislators are redrawing district boundaries for North Carolina’s congressional seats, North Carolina House of Representatives, and North Carolina’s Senate seats. Additionally, due to population growth, North Carolina has gained one new Congressional seat so legislators will be drawing this new district as they work through redistricting.

Since who is elected into office directly impacts what bills will be written, introduced, and passed, issues such as health care, education, voting rights, environmental issues, abortion access, and racial discrimination are all impacted by redistricting. North Carolina legislators have previously been taken to court over the use of gerrymandering while drawing previous district maps. Gerrymandering is a manipulation of voting districts to gain political advantage by a party or group of people. It is a strategy used to influence district composition and election results which can help one political party win more seats and hold a majority, thus influencing bills that can pass. Because of North Carolina’s history of drawing districts illegally, it is important for social workers to lend their voice on the drawing of fair maps that represent equity and fair representation.

Resources:

• What is Redistricting?
• NC’s Long History of Litigation Over Redistricting: A Guide to Fair Maps or a Preview of Lawsuits to Come?
• Republican legislators reject Democrats’ proposal to include racial data in redistricting
• NASW-NC Post: NC Begins Redistricting Process
  

Ways to Get Involved:

Legislators are taking public comments on redistricting right now. To submit public comments on our state’s 2021 redistricting plan, you can follow this link.

To register as a speaker for the next upcoming hearings you can go to https://www.ncleg.gov/Redistricting and click Speaker Registration for your area’s meeting. Make sure you are registering for the correct meeting as some meetings are being held on the same day. As meeting dates approach, legislators will update this site with sign up forms so check back for registering to speak for additional dates.

Sept. 14 | Forsyth Technical Community College, 4 p.m. | Elizabeth City State University, 5 p.m.

Sept. 15 | Durham Technical Community College, 6 p.m. | Nash Community College, 5 p.m.

Sept. 16 | Pitt Community College, 3 p.m. | Alamance Community College, 5 p.m.

Sept. 21 | Western Carolina University, 5 p.m.

Sept. 22 | Central Piedmont Community College, 3 p.m.

Sept. 23 | Mitchell Community College (Iredell County Campus), 3 p.m.

Sept. 28 | UNC-Pembroke, 4 p.m.

Sept. 29 | UNC-Wilmington, 5 p.m.

Sept. 30 | Fayetteville Technical Community College, 6 p.m.

To find the posted schedules for upcoming redistricting hearings, click here.