4:40North Carolina State Capitol Building in Raleigh, N.C.STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
The Republican chiefs of the North Carolina legislature have announced that they will convene the following week to deliberate on altering the state’s congressional districts, asserting a desire to reinforce President Donald Trump amidst continuous encouragement from the White House for Republicans to redraw district boundaries mid-decade, prior to the impending midterm elections next year.
“President Trump secured a definite approval from the voters of North Carolina and the remainder of the nation, and we are resolved to uphold it by delineating an additional Republican Congressional position,” penned state Rep. Destin Hall, the speaker of the North Carolina House, in a blog entry on Monday.
The legislature, under Republican authority, was already slated to gather next week. Despite North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein being a Democrat, the state’s governing document does not authorize him to overrule modified legislative or congressional maps.
North Carolina’s congressional arrangement is presently the subject of numerous ongoing judicial proceedings, as per a summary from NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice, concerning claims that the map racially discriminates and constitutes partisan manipulation.
North Carolina State Capitol Building in Raleigh, N.C.STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
Currently, North Carolina's congressional representation is composed of 10 Republicans and four Democrats.
Sen. Phil Berger, the Senate’s leading voice, noted on Monday, "Continuing from where Texas concluded, we will conduct ballots in our October assembly to revise North Carolina’s congressional layout to guarantee Gavin Newsom does not determine the congressional control," alluding to the California governor’s Proposition 50 distinct referendum, wherein voters will determine whether to embrace a layout that might enable Democrats to gain five positions.
House Redistricting Chairmen Brenden Jones and Hugh Blackwell jointly stated: "We're engaging in this redistricting conflict because California and the radical left are endeavoring to skew the framework to selectively choose those who govern Congress. This tactic is not unprecedented, and North Carolina will not idly stand by as they attempt to rig the outcome. President Trump has urged us to resist, and North Carolina is prepared to guarantee a level competitive environment."
In reaction, North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton labeled state Republican figureheads as subservient to Trump and culpable of corruption.
"North Carolina Republicans Phil Berger and Destin Hall are feeble, compliant individuals prepared to overwhelm the inhabitants of our state so they might grant Donald Trump his desires — authority unburdened by responsibility. Today, [North Carolina General Assembly] Republicans revealed they will be discarding our already severely manipulated congressional designs and redrawing them to allocate additional positions to Congressional Republicans. To be unequivocal: designs should not confer authority; voters should. When politicians designate their electorate rather than voters designating their politicians, that embodies corruption, not democracy," Clayton conveyed in a statement to ABC News.
Stein responded on Monday to the GOP statehouse leaders' declaration by criticizing them for betraying voters and underscoring how the state legislature has yet to sanction a fiscal blueprint.
"The General Assembly serves North Carolina, not Donald Trump," Stein expressed.
"The Republican leadership within the General Assembly has neglected to approve a budget, neglected to appropriately compensate our educators and law enforcement, and neglected to comprehensively provision Medicaid. Now they are failing you, the voters. These unscrupulous politicians are exploiting their authority to confiscate yours."
North Carolina Democrats are organizing an anti-redistricting demonstration on Oct. 21 in Raleigh.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
