Gerrymandering: on the way, again!

A Message from League of Women Voters, Fair Districts North Carolina, and Flush Gerrymander:

It’s getting ready to happen again! Soon! Gerrymandering is on the way! Again!

When the ink dries on the 2020 Census, political parties – as they have for centuries – will sneak into smoky back rooms in secret locations to pick their voters for the following decade. Yes! You read that correctly. Despite the US and NC constitutions’ granting citizens the right to pick our representatives, political parties – particularly the majority party – will draw “gerrymandered” maps to predetermine our election results until 2030! That’s 10 more years!

But we can stop this travesty if we act NOW and push for reform. We need your voice to be heard in Raleigh!

Their goal is power over the other party. Power over the people. Power over OUR democracy. OUR goal is real democracy that puts voters, not politicians, in charge!

Litigation is not the answer. The federal courts won’t even take partisan gerrymandering cases, no matter how bad the maps are. The state courts forced a redraw of the legislative and Congressional maps, but their ruling applies to the 2020 elections only.

We need action in the legislature! There are seven “fair redistricting bills” buried in committees at the North Carolina General Assembly. The majority party leadership wants it that way. Candidly, the only opportunity we have to move toward fair redistricting is to force those bills to be heard in the two houses – now. The good news is that a solid majority of House members (73 of 120) are sponsors of at least one redistricting reform bill! So…the opportunity is there to get something passed prior to the end of the term and before map drawing begins next spring.

We may be stuck under stay-at-home “house arrest” for the foreseeable future, but we can still make a hellacious racket by landing a pile of letters and postcards on legislators’ desks. Dems or GOP, we need their help in getting the leadership to listen to the voters!

Will you help? Please?  Here’s what you can do:

1. Write handwritten letters to the leaders of the majority party. It’s they who have redistricting reform locked down:

• Senator Phil Berger: 311 Pinewood Place, Eden, NC 27288. Ph. 919-733-5708; Berger@ncleg.net
• Senator Ralph Hise: 70 Rhododendron Ave., Spruce Pine NC 28277. Ph. 919-733-3460; Hise@ncleg.net
• Representative Tim Moore: 305 East King St. Kings Mountain, NC 28086. Ph. 704-739-1221; Moore@ncleg.net
• Representative David Lewis: PO Box 152, Dunn, NC 28335. Ph. 910-897-8100; Lewis@ncleg.net

2. Write handwritten letters to your  N.C. senator and house members. Find them here: https://www.ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators. Enter your address; a new screen will open showing the individuals. Their contact information is at the end of this letter.
3. Please write a short message similar to this: “North Carolina voters (your constituents) support redistricting reform; please urge the leadership to hear the reform bills already in committee and adopt reform before the next redrawing.”
4. If you can and will, call the offices of the leaders above at phone numbers above in item 1. Sample phone scripts are attached.
5. Tell 2 (or more!) people what we’re doing and why…and encourage them to do the same.

And if you would be so kind, I need to know who is participating and what you’ve been able to accomplish. You can reach me at hataylor@ccim.net, please.

It’s long past time for voters to reclaim our constitutional rights to pick our representatives, both in Raleigh and in DC. Let’s try our best to make that happen!!!

Grateful thanks,
LWV Charlotte Mecklenburg, Fair Districts NC, and Flush GerryMander

Harry Taylor, Team Leader

N.C. General Assembly members from Mecklenburg County:

Kelly M. Alexander, Jr. (D) • 1424 Statesville Ave., Charlotte, NC 28206  • 704-333-1167
John Autry (D) • PO Box 189113, Charlotte, NC 28218 • 704-537-2735
Mary Belk (D) • PO Box 33115, Charlotte, NC 28233 • 980-579-2800
Becky Carney (D) • PO Box 32873, Charlotte, NC 28232 • 919-733-5827
Christy Clark (D) • 3902 Conner Glenn Dr., Huntersville, NC 28078 • 919-733-5828
Carla D. Cunningham (D) • 1400 Sansberry Rd., Charlotte, NC 28262 • 704-509-2939
Wesley Harris, PhD (D) •   3570 Toringdon Way, Apt. 4026 Charlotte, NC 28277  • 919-733-5886
Rachel Hunt (D) • 3310 Windbluff Dr., Charlotte, NC 28277 • 704-542-1650
Brandon Lofton (D) • 16 West Jones St, Rm 1317, Raleigh, NC 27601-1096 • 919-715-3009
Carolyn G. Logan (D) • 300 N Salisbury St, Rm 603, Raleigh, NC 27603-5925 • 919-715-2530
Nasif Majeed (D) • 5401 Rupert Ln., Charlotte, NC 28215 • 704-965-1153
Chaz Beasley (D) • PO Box 39137 Charlotte, NC 28278 • 919-733-5654
Rob Bryan (R) • 3517 Broadfield Rd., Charlotte, NC 28226 • 919-733-5655
Jeff Jackson (D)  • 2519 Cranbrook Ln. , Charlotte NC 28207  • 919-715-8331‬‬‬‬‬
Joyce Waddell (D) • 1928 Bonnie Ln. , Charlotte NC 28213. • 919-733-5650
Mujtaba Mohammed (D) • PO Box 30773, Charlotte, NC 28230 • 919-733-5955
Natasha Marcus (D) • PO Box 24, Davidson, NC 28036 • 919-715-3050