North Carolina Gerrymander Ruled Unconstitutional But No Remedy For 2016

North Carolina’s state legislative maps have been ruled unconstitutional due to racial gerrymandering. This follows the state’s congressional districts also being ruled unconstitutional for the same reason. Unfortunately, the court ruled that to change the map at this late date would result in too much confusion so that the unconstitutional districts will remain in place for this fall’s election. Partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina has allowed Republicans veto-proof majorities in the North Carolina legislature despite Democrats winning the popular vote across the entire state. And, incredibly, unconstitutional districts will have been in place for three of the five election cycles this decade in the state. This seems to be the new modus operandi for American politics and business. Go ahead and break the law and by the time the legal system catches up it is already too late. That is certainly the way Uber and Airbnb have worked. And the Republicans in North Carolina are doing the same. Unfortunately for Republicans, relying on these partisan and illegal gerrymanders only hides the fact of their party’s increasing unpopularity. And when fairer districts are eventually redrawn and the impact of the 2020 census is also taken into account, Republicans may find themselves as a significant minority party. And they will only have their anti-democratic selves to blame. For those citizens living in these unconstitutional districts, their must and should be some fury is knowing that your constitutional right to have your vote count in 2016 has been seriously abridged and that the court is offering no remedy whatsoever. It really is just another disgrace and more shame for the ridiculous voting system we have in what is supposed to be a great democracy. And it is yet another example of the truly awful decision of the Supreme Court to roll back the Voting Rights Act.