Having played organized baseball in my youth, I developed what turned out to be an unrealistic sense of fair play, which I thought applied to every facet of life. In baseball, both teams begin the game with a score of 0 to 0, and thus have an equal chance of winning. The distances to the fence and between bases are the same for both sides, and the foul pole tells you what’s fair and what’s not. And, of course, the team with the most runs at the end of the game wins the contest. In other words, the rules and boundaries don’t favor one team over another. But imagine what would happen if one team had a five-run head start before the game even begins. It would be unfair and chaotic, and that is exactly what has happened to politics in America, and especially here in North Carolina.
For much of this century, North Carolina has been regarded as a “purple” state mainly because the number of registered voters are pretty much equally divided between Republican, Democrat, and unaffiliated. We are also regarded as a “swing” state when it comes to presidential elections because our diverse electorate could swing the national election either way. As a result, and, given that we picked up an extra House district after the 2020 census, there is a reasonable expectation that our Congressional delegation would be evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Yet, for years now, our GOP-controlled state legislature has done everything in its power to diminish and dismantle the political and demographic equity reflected in our populace. Their efforts have been so blatantly partisan that every time they draw up new Congressional district lines, the courts have had to intervene. That happened several years ago when the court established a panel of “special masters” to re-draw district boundaries in a fair and equitable manner. The three special masters came up with a map that resulted in our state having seven Republicans and seven Democrats to represent us in Congress. But soon after the 2022 election, our state lawmakers re-drew the map in such a way as to potentially give Republicans an 11 to 3 edge in this fall’s elections. And, thanks to Trump-appointed judges at every level, that gerrymandered map could be in effect for decades to come, unless a group called “NC for Fair Elections” (NCFE) can prevail with their legal challenge which was filed on May 10.
NCFE and its 11 plaintiffs who reside in gerrymandered districts, are suing the State Board of Elections, Senate Pro Tem president Phil Berger, and N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore for drawing up district boundaries that violate their voting rights. Leading NCFE’s legal team is former State Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr, who also served as one of the Special Masters prior to the 2022 midterm elections. The state has filed a motion to dismiss which will be heard by a three-judge panel on June 13. I recently spoke with my friend Bob Orr about the lawsuit.
Jim: First of all, why was NC for Fair Elections created?
Orr: The group and the lawsuit grew out of my interest in resolving the basic question of whether North Carolina citizens have a Constitutional right to fair elections. Fair elections in this context means that government does not interfere or try to preordain the results of the electoral process by stacking the deck.
Jim: So, what is the basic argument in your brief, and is it Constitutionally sound?
Orr: The argument is pretty simple. Our State Constitution has a provision (article 1, Sec. 36) that says in essence that even though specific rights of the people are set out in the Constitution (enumerated rights), the people still retain other rights (unenumerated rights) that protect them from government action. Secondly, we contend that the most basic right retained but unenumerated, is the right to fair elections. After all, democracy is built on the election of officials. If government can stack the deck and preordain the outcome of these elections, then that’s not fair. Third, the General Assembly’s use of sophisticated political data and computers allowed them in selected districts (NC 6, NC 13, NC 14, SD 7, and HD 105) to rearrange voters so as to virtually guarantee who wins.
Jim: If you should prevail, how soon could we see new maps created?
Orr: Regardless of the decision at the trial level, the case would in all likelihood go up on appeal, thus the ultimate resolution would not come until 2025. If we prevail, the districts would need to be redrawn and finalized prior to the 2025 election.
Jim: If you do not prevail, what is it going to take for us to get fair maps?
Orr: If we lose this case, I see no way that there will be any significant change in the process in my lifetime.
The Voting Rights Act was signed into law nearly 60 years ago, and it was supposed to protect against all forms of voter suppression. The problem is that proponents of that Act didn’t foresee how future state legislators would circumvent federal law by simply redrawing voting districts. Right now, a majority of North Carolina’s General Assembly members are deliberately suppressing the votes of Democrats in general and Blacks in particular. These partisan politicians are trying to win the game before it even starts because they’re afraid of a fair fight. Thank goodness for men like Bob Orr who are fighting to level the playing field and preserve one of our most sacred rights.
To read the entire NCFE brief, visit NCforFairElections.com.
Group Sues to Change Gerrymandered Maps
Having played organized baseball in my youth, I developed what turned out to be an unrealistic sense of fair play, which I thought applied to every facet of life. In baseball, both teams begin the game with a score of 0 to 0, and thus have an equal chance of winning. The distances to the fence and between bases are the same for both sides, and the foul pole tells you what’s fair and what’s not. And, of course, the team with the most runs at the end of the game wins the contest. In other words, the rules and boundaries don’t favor one team over another. But imagine what would happen if one team had a five-run head start before the game even begins. It would be unfair and chaotic, and that is exactly what has happened to politics in America, and especially here in North Carolina.
For much of this century, North Carolina has been regarded as a “purple” state mainly because the number of registered voters are pretty much equally divided between Republican, Democrat, and unaffiliated. We are also regarded as a “swing” state when it comes to presidential elections because our diverse electorate could swing the national election either way. As a result, and, given that we picked up an extra House district after the 2020 census, there is a reasonable expectation that our Congressional delegation would be evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Yet, for years now, our GOP-controlled state legislature has done everything in its power to diminish and dismantle the political and demographic equity reflected in our populace. Their efforts have been so blatantly partisan that every time they draw up new Congressional district lines, the courts have had to intervene. That happened several years ago when the court established a panel of “special masters” to re-draw district boundaries in a fair and equitable manner. The three special masters came up with a map that resulted in our state having seven Republicans and seven Democrats to represent us in Congress. But soon after the 2022 election, our state lawmakers re-drew the map in such a way as to potentially give Republicans an 11 to 3 edge in this fall’s elections. And, thanks to Trump-appointed judges at every level, that gerrymandered map could be in effect for decades to come, unless a group called “NC for Fair Elections” (NCFE) can prevail with their legal challenge which was filed on May 10.
NCFE and its 11 plaintiffs who reside in gerrymandered districts, are suing the State Board of Elections, Senate Pro Tem president Phil Berger, and N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore for drawing up district boundaries that violate their voting rights. Leading NCFE’s legal team is former State Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr, who also served as one of the Special Masters prior to the 2022 midterm elections. The state has filed a motion to dismiss which will be heard by a three-judge panel on June 13. I recently spoke with my friend Bob Orr about the lawsuit.
The Voting Rights Act was signed into law nearly 60 years ago, and it was supposed to protect against all forms of voter suppression. The problem is that proponents of that Act didn’t foresee how future state legislators would circumvent federal law by simply redrawing voting districts. Right now, a majority of North Carolina’s General Assembly members are deliberately suppressing the votes of Democrats in general and Blacks in particular. These partisan politicians are trying to win the game before it even starts because they’re afraid of a fair fight. Thank goodness for men like Bob Orr who are fighting to level the playing field and preserve one of our most sacred rights.
To read the entire NCFE brief, visit NCforFairElections.com.