Redistricting Update

By Holly Edmondson, NASW-NC Intern 

The public redistricting hearings in North Carolina finished up at the end of September and legislators have now begun the map drawing process. To learn more about redistricting and its significance to social workers, see our previous posts: North Carolina Begins Redistricting Process, Redistricting is a Social Work Issue, and Resources and Ways to Engage with Redistricting. 

North Carolina legislators are holding committee meetings to draw multiple versions of potential districts for the North Carolina House, North Carolina Senate, and Congress (including a brand new 14th district!). For the next two weeks, computer stations have been set up with video and audio live streaming so the public can observe the map drawing process. Any maps that were not drawn in full public view will not be considered by the committee. The Committee is still accepting public comments on redistricting, which you can submit by following this link. 

In meetings this past week, legislators announced that they have utilized information from a non-partisan research group, Quantifying Gerrymandering, to create the first 16 map options being presented. This group has compiled information suggesting possible maps based on the 2020 census population data and court ordered procedures that you can view here. This analysis does not include a review of the map’s compliance with the Voting Rights Act, which was included in the NC Supreme Court order outlining redistricting procedures (Stephenson v. Bartlett). 

To read more about redistricting and gerrymandering in NC, check out this article entitled What is gerrymandering? Here are 6 things you should know about redistricting in NC that was published on October 6, 2021.