Q&A with U.S. Rep. Butterfield about NC redistricting troubles

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the voting districts in North Carolina unconstitutional for packing African-American voters within lines that snake unfettered across the state. The N.C. legislature has until today to redraw the lines for the 1st and 12th congressional districts.

U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., who represents the state’s 1st Congressional District, spoke with staff writer Rachel Kompare about the implications of the federal court’s decision.

The Daily Tar Heel: How did the gerrymandering happen?

G.K. Butterfield: (Voting districts) need to be continuous, which means they have to adjoin each other, and because of the Voting Rights Act, minority populations have got to be protected ... When the district lines were drawn in 2011, the Republicans took it to the extreme. They came to the conclusion that the Voting Rights Act required them not only to keep African- American communities pretty close together, but to find as many African-American communities as they possibly could and pack those communities into these minority districts.

DTH: Was the line drawing for the 1st and 12th districts backed by racial or political motives?

GKB: Political motives for sure and racial motives for sure because the Republicans understand that African Americans are likely to vote Democratic. If you just round up all the African-American voters and just pack them into one or two districts, then that means the other districts will be more Republican and more non-black.

DTH: Has the redistricting issue been this bad since you took office in 2004?

GKB: It’s always been bad, yes. Every time we redistrict, it’s always a battle. But it seems to be getting worse. The Republicans have a playbook that’s unfolding that does not guarantee the right to vote. (Republicans) would say the same thing happened when Democrats were in charge, that Democrats tried to pack districts in order to maximize our political strength. But when Democrats were in the majority, you didn’t have a large number of Republicans in the state. This was a Democratic state. But now North Carolina is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, which means that our congressmen need to be evenly divided ... But right now they have drawn the lines in such a way that they have 10 Republicans and three Democrats.

DTH: What do you hope is the ultimate solution to this issue, if there is one?

GKB: I hope that the legislature will draw districts in which Democrats have an opportunity to elect in six districts, Republicans in seven districts, and that we can have at least two African-American districts where the black vote can determine the outcome of the election.

DTH: How can North Carolina voters get involved?

GKB: There’s a move now to create a redistricting commission; in other words, to take the redrawing of the lines out of the hands of the legislature and to put it into a commission, a nonpartisan commission ... if the public demands it, it will happen. I’ve heard complaints for years about the legislature having the power to draw districts because they’re going to draw districts in a way that favors their political party, whether it’s Democratic or Republican. But if you have an Independent commission, then the commission will not draw lines in respect of party.

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