Attorney Notes

    r ,, fnn^6 N s1

*--*s. SENATE DrsrRrcr #2 #
Senate District #2 was a single member district in rural

,(ortheast North Carolina. It covers all of four counties and

parts of four more. Px I0. 46.2t of its registered voters rrere

black. Stip. 57. Appellees claimed, and the District Court

found, that this district and District #6 were divided in a way

that fractured a substantial concentration of black voters, thus

minimizing minority voting strength and denying black citizens
an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and

elect candidates of their choice. J.S. App. 52a.

Appellants offered no witnesses from this district and put

forward no evidence as to the operation of the district as

enacted. The Solicitor General does not contest the ultimate

finding of fact as to this district. U.S. Br. 7, n. 11. [check

amicus on jurisdiction for clearer statement l

Few, if atry, blacks have been elected to public office from
qlcs

majority white elector++< in the area covered by SD#2. (f. 847)

No black has ever been elected to the North Carolina Senate from

a county covered by this district, and the two blacks elected to

the House from that area-in J-9B2 are from majority black

districts. Stip. 95; T. 830. Contrary to appellants'

assertion, although blacks have run for both the Halifax County

Board of Commissioners and the Roanoke Rapids City Council, none

have won. T. 780-782. Nor does the record disclose any black

who has been elected to the county commission in any of the

other counties in this district.



The area covered by SD#2 is polarized and segregated. The

undisputed testimony is that voting is significantly racially
polarized, and that white voters will not vote for black

candidates. J.S. App. 46a, T. 846, 779, I39-141. In fact, it
is unrealistic for any black candidate to expect to receive open

support from any influential white citizen. T. 866-7.

There is little social interaction between the races,

residences are segregated, and schools remain, by and large,

segregated. It is unacceptable for blacks to campaign in white

residential areas, nor do black candidates normally get invited

to attend meetings of white M clubs. T. 775-776, 838-844.

Thus it is difficult for black candidates to gain exposure to

white voters.

For each of the counties in question (except Gates) the

percentage of the black voting age population that is registered

to vote is much lower than the percentage of whites. J.S. App.

25a, n. 22. The causes of this include the use of the literacy

test at least until 1965, the embarrassment of older blacks who

have little education because they cannot read or write, and

pressure by white employers on their black employees not to
participate in politics. In additionr so many black candidates

have run and lost that many blacks believe it is futile to

register or vote. T. 845-849, 864, 773-774. Even those blacks

who have registered often have trouble voting because they lack

transportation to the polls or because the white farm owners who
K

employ them mafle them work in the fields the entire timei the

polls are open. 849, 866, 770.

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SD#2, as it was at the time of trial, was adopted by the

State in April L982, after the first two districts proposed for
this area had been ob jecte{under 55.

The uncontradicted testimony showed that the purpose of

enacting SD#2 was to adopt a district with the lowest black

population that could receive S5 preclearance. As the Chairman

of the Senate Redistricting Committee said, "We hrere given three

pills and we swallowed the smallest one. " This was true even

though the Committee had available to it proposed districts
which met all of the CommitteeL criteria which had higher black

populations and which divided fewer counties. The secondary

purpose was to avoid having a high enough percentage of black

voters that the reelection of the white incumbent might be

threatened. T. 1114-6; J.S. App. 51a.

The district which appellants proposed as a remedy in this

"r# and which the District Court adopted, is 60.1|black in
population. D. Ex. 71.

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