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For Immediate Release
March 31, 2003
Contact: Jesse Rutledge, N.C. Center for Voter Education,
(919) 839-1200

Center Calls for a New Approach to Redistricting

RALEIGH - The North Carolina Center for Voter Education joined a host of legislators and public interest groups today in calling for a new approach to legislative redistricting.

The Center supports the creation of an Independent Redistricting Commission. Such commissions are in use in numerous states around the country and have proven a viable alternative for redrawing political maps. Legislation to create a Commission in North Carolina will be introduced this week in the state Senate.

“Redrawing our state's legislative districts has become a troublesome and expensive process that does not serve our people well. Ongoing court battles are now a recurring theme. There has to be a better way,” said Chris Heagarty, the Center’s executive director.

Heagarty noted that confusion in the election process is also heightened when redistricting is a long and drawn out battle. Voters are less likely to know who the candidates are, while the candidates must delay their campaigns until they find out to which voters they need to present their views. The result, Heagarty said, is a less informed electorate.

“The citizens of this state deserve a redistricting process that works,” Heagarty continued. “The constant legislative and judicial squabbles reinforce the public perception that the existing process only serves incumbents and political operatives. Public confidence needs to be restored.”

States re-draw their political boundaries following the national census every ten years.

The Center argued that our present system of redistricting by the legislature is a time consuming and money consuming drain.

According to one conservative estimate, last year’s redistricting process cost the state $1.5 million – before it reached the courts.
It is time the legislature delegated its authority to an independent body to do the map drawing, so the legislature can focus its attention on the affairs of the people of North Carolina, rather than constant efforts to protect political fiefdoms.

The NC Center for Voter Education is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality and responsiveness of the state’s election system. The organization is chaired by former US Senator Robert Morgan.

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