HUNTERSVILLE – Gov. Pat McCrory said Thursday that the state Division of Motor Vehicles is doing away with a requirement that newcomers take a written test to obtain driver’s licenses in North Carolina. The governor made the announcement during a visit to the DMV’s newly opened office in Huntersville, where he said the department is working to improve customer service. Read the full story

The Republican primary race in North Carolina has already gained national attention for pitting different party factions against each other in a sort of GOP civil war. But Tuesday night’s debate in Duke Family Performance Hall at Davidson College was remarkable for its civility, not its discord. See Jon Cox’s report on our ELECTIONS page.

The May 6 Republican primary is fast approaching for the N.C. House of Representatives 98th District seat and candidates are lining up support and making their pitches to voters. Cornelius Commissioner John Bradford this week won endorsement from the Charlotte area Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition (REBIC). Meanwhile, former Cornelius Mayor Lynette Rinker said she would work to repeal North Carolina’s income tax on businesses and citizens. See those stories on our ELECTION page.

Like spring daffodils, campaign signs seem to have sprouted up overnight. They’re crowded around major intersections and filling the public right-of-way along major thoroughfares. Campaign signs are never lonely for long – as soon as one candidate’s sign pops up a rival’s sign is sure to follow. For now it seems the only way to escape the barrage of campaign signs is to turn onto a neighborhood street, where most yards remain a sign-free zone. Read the full story

Davidson College has landed a starring role in North Carolina’s U.S. Senate campaign, as host of a televised debate next month among candidates for the Republican nomination. The GOP hopefuls will duke it out in a 1-hour debate on Tuesday, April 22, at 7pm, airing live from the college’s 600-seat Duke Family Performance Hall. See more on our ELECTIONS page

The race for the Republican nomination to replace state Rep. Thom Tillis is now a three-way battle. On Thursday, party activist Sharon Hudson of Huntersville filed to run for the seat. She’ll face a May primary against Cornelius commissioner John Bradford and former Cornelius Mayor Lynette Rinker. Read more about the latest entrant on our ELECTIONS PAGE»

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net/CorneliusNews.net

It was a rare scene Tuesday night in Davidson: Political activists from right and left sharing a stage and actually agreeing on something. They were talking about efforts to pass “fair redistricting” legislation that would end gerrymandering in North Carolina.

About 50 people assembled at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church for the nonpartisan forum organized by the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying & Legislative Reform. The coalition’s Jane Pinsky moderated the discussion, saying the time has come to change the way district boundaries are drawn.

“Meaningful reforms are needed right now. We’ve seen citizens on both sides of the political aisle disaffected,” Pinsky said.

State legislatures must revise voting district lines after the federal census every 10 years, to adjust to shifts in population and ensure comparable-sized districts. In recent years the parties in power – both Democrats and Republicans – have become even more bold in their efforts to shape districts that favor their parties.

Some states have begun to address the issue, putting redistricting in the hands of temporary independent commissions. Several speakers cited Iowa as a model, saying the process there now is fast, efficient and fair.

In North Carolina, the last redistricting in 2011 left most voting districts uncompetitive from a party standpoint, and sparked lawsuits. Twelve of the state’s Congressional districts and 159 of 170 legislative districts are so lopsided in voter registrations one way or the other that candidates from the majority party can win by 10 points or more.

Such wide margins of victory make it difficult for challengers, and often leave voters with no choice. With filing for the fall legislative elections open right now, most statehouse incumbents in Mecklenburg county as of Wednesday had no challengers, including state Rep. Charles Jeter (R-Huntersville) and state Sen. Jeff Tarte (R-Cornelius).

“Fair redistricting” supporters have had limited success in changing the picture. A bill passed the state House of Representatives last year, but never made it to a vote in the Senate. Speakers at Tuesday’s meeting said they think the bill could pass again easily in the house, but the Senate remains a big question mark.

Jeter was among those who came to speak in support of the the legislation Tuesday night. He pledged if re-elected to make a “fair redistricting” bill the first he introduces in the 2015 session. He decried gerrymandering and said: “The easiest way to solve that problem is to do away with safe districts. Both parties do it, everybody’s guilty.

“There’s ways to do this, and I think it’s something we have to do, or else we’re going to continue to have situation were we don’t listen to each other,” Jeter said.

As a Republican, he believes in his party, and doesn’t think it needs to use gerrymandering to hold power, he said. “I believe we can win on the issues,” he said.

Others on the panel included Marcus Bass of Common Cause; Becki Gray of the conservative John Locke Foundation; Dawn Moretz, a teacher and independent voter; and Harry Taylor of Charlotte, a former congressional candidate and author of “You Can’t Get There From Here,” which addresses the issue through his own tale of running as a Democrat in a heavily Republican district.

Pinsky said fair redistricting advocates favor a bill like the one that died in the General Assembly last year. She said the problem can be solved with a process that creates districts that:

Are compact, as close to a square as possible

Are contiguous, where precincts actually touch and are “not connected by an off ramp on I-95.”

Follow state and federal law, and keep counties as whole as possible

Respect communities of interest.

She said reformers hope to have a bill reintroduced and passed in 2015, and to hold a referendum on a state constitutional amendment that would ensure the reforms are carried out.

Meetings such as Tuesday’s are part of an effort to build a “core of citizen activists to pressure the state Senate to act.

“It’s clear the House is behind the bill. The only way the Senate’s going to move on this is if they hear from citizens,” Pinsky said.

Taylor said redistricting reform is critical to our political system. “It really care about democracy,” he said. “I don’t apologize for being an idealist. … We’re supposed to be the country to follow in the world. Instead we’ve got a system that’s rigged, to prevent people like me from having a vote that counts.”

RELATED LINKS

EndGerrymanderingNow.org – N.C. Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform page

NCLobbyReform.org, redistricting issue page

Oct. 16, 2013, WFAE.org, Charlotte Talks program on “Fair Redistricting,” which included Harry Taylor, Jane Pinsky and Mitch Kokai of the conservative John Locke Foundation

NCLeg.net, 2013 House Bill 606 – “Nonpartisan Redistricting Process,” which was approved in the House, but wasn’t considered in the state Senate. That bill would use non-partisan legislative staff to draw maps, under a tight time frame. Public hearings would be held by a citizens’ advisory commission, and the legislature would vote yes or no within 14 days.

Is there a better way to draw legislative and congressional districts? Supporters of a new “fair redistricting” bill think so, and they’re pushing North Carolina state legislators to end gerrymandering, the current practice that lets the party in power draw boundaries to maximize its election chances. The N.C. Coalition for Lobbying & Legislative Reform will host a nonpartisan forum on the topic Tuesday night, Feb. 18, at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church. Read more on our ELECTIONS PAGE»