UPDATE: the testimony of Executive Director Anita Earls has been attached. See below for all of the associated documents with her testimony, including SCSJ maps.
Domenic Powell
(704) 281 9911
domenic@southerncoalition.org
The Alliance for Fair Redistricting and Minority Voting Rights Releases Illustrative Redistricting Maps
DURHAM—Testifying today at public hearings on the districts drawn by the Senate and House Redistricting committees, Anita Earls of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice is presenting maps drawn in a series of meetings over the past two months by a coalition of non-partisan organizations that illustrate more compact, more reasonable districts that are fair for all voters of the state.
“The “Voting Rights Act” districts made public last Friday by the Redistricting Committees pack far more minorities together than are required under the Voting Rights Act,” said Anita Earls, Executive Director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. “These districts will likely result in an overall plan that isolates minority communities for partisan advantage.”
The Republicans released maps of the districts they identified as Voting Rights Act districts prior to releasing their overall plan, making it difficult to understand the maps in context. Moreover, the Voting Rights Act explicitly states that it does not require proportional representation. The alternative maps presented to the Committees today comply with the Voting Rights Act and have reasonably compact districts. There may be other options that AFRAM ultimately endorses, but these maps illustrate that it is possible to comply with the Voting Rights Act without packing black voters beyond what is necessary to elect their candidates of choice.
The Voting Rights Act districts released by the Committees will likely ultimately harm the interests of black voters in this state. “We’re more sophisticated than just counting the number of black districts” said Earls. “We want electoral districts in which minority communities have a viable voice in government. We want a process that is fair to all voters.”
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The Southern Coalition for Social Justice is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in August, 2007 in Durham, North Carolina by a multi-disciplinary group, predominantly people of color, who believe that families and communities engaged in social justice struggles need a team of lawyers, social scientists, community organizers and media specialists to support them in their efforts to dismantle structural racism and oppression.
Attached file/s:
NC_Senate_Stephenson_Analysis.pdf
June 23 Testimony ASE (1).pdf
NC_House_SCSJ_Statistics_Short.xls
Copy of NC_House_Retrogression_Analysis.pdf
NC_House_Incumbent_Analysis.pdf
NC_House_SCSJ_Map_LARGE.pdf
NC_Senate_Incumbent_Analysis.pdf
NC_House_Stephenson_Analysis.pdf
NC_Senate_Retrogression_Analysis.pdf
NC_Senate_SCSJ_Map_LARGE.pdf
NC_Senate_SCSJ_Statistics_Short.xls