Critics of Republican maps of North Carolina legislative districts struck down by federal courts are pleading with GOP lawmakers to leave out partisan considerations when they draw new boundaries and approve them this month.
Nearly all of the 30 speakers at a General Assembly redistricting committee meeting Friday lamented the current maps approved in 2011. They asked GOP committee leaders to ignore past election results and where incumbents live when new boundaries are created so more legislative elections are competitive.
The boundary criteria will be finalized next week. The legislature reconvenes Aug. 18 to begin remapping.
Federal judges found 28 of the House and Senate’s 170 districts were illegal racial gerrymanders. While more than 100 districts may be redrawn, wide swaths of western North Carolina likely won’t be altered.
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