The League of Women Voters Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Democracy North Carolina are sponsoring a public forum on upcoming voter redistricting and how it can affect residents of Charlotte. Scheduled panel members include North Carolina legislator Senator Bob Rucho (R) representing Mecklenburg county who is also Chair of the NC Senate Redistricting Committee, Bob Hall the Executive Director of Democracy North Carolina, Anita Earls the Executive Director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and Dr. Martha E. Kropf from the Department of Political Science at UNC-Charlotte.
The North Carolina General Assembly is required by law to redraw all the districts from which “members of the United States House of Representatives, the North Carolina Senate and the North Carolina House of Representatives are elected by voters following each decennial census”. The last U.S. Census was taken in 2010 and like the Census; the redrawing of voting districts can be a very partisan and contentious time.
Because of the potential political ramifications from redistricting which can affect voting blocs, minorities are always strongly encouraged to participate in the U.S. Census. Census participation among other things helps to ensure that minorities achieve maximum political representation and interested parties are always careful to watch for gerrymandering which can dilute the vote of minorities, particularly in southern states. With Republicans taking over both houses of the North Carolina General Assembly for the first time since Reconstruction after the civil war, civil rights groups are especially wary of the process even though the Voting Rights Act prohibits redrawing districts that dilute minority voting strength.
The forum will take place April 22, 2011 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM at the YWCA located at 3420 Park Road, Charlotte, NC.
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