Last week, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a congressional map that intentionally diminishes Black voting power. This will be North Carolina’s fifth congressional map to be enacted in this decade, and the Governor has zero veto power over the decision.
North Carolina is home to over 1.7 million eligible Black voters — and this new congressional map aims to shift those communities into new and separate districts, eliminating many Black North Carolinians’ opportunities to elect candidates of choice. North Carolina is now the latest state to engage in off-cycle redistricting, despite the fact that 84% of voters in the state oppose redistricting efforts.
In response to the passage of the map, Legal Defense Fund (LDF) Director of Policy Demetria McCain issued the following statement:
“Black communities continue to suffer attack after attack against their foundational right to elect a candidate of their choice. In an incredibly rushed process shrouded in secrecy, North Carolina legislative leaders forced through a congressional map that further harms Black voters’ political power.
“Off-cycle redistricting that targets Black voters’ ability to elect candidates of choice is illegal — these efforts to dilute Black power are simply the most modern form of voter suppression. We must all continue to fight back against maps that discriminate against Black voters.”
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957 — although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
