Feds Reject N.C. Plan on Districts (The Charlotte News)
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December 8, 1981

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Case Files, Thornburg v. Gingles Working Files - Guinier. Feds Reject N.C. Plan on Districts (The Charlotte News), 1981. 00e46002-dc92-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/3d1790cc-3abe-4e19-8355-a2fde7f160b5/feds-reject-nc-plan-on-districts-the-charlotte-news. Accessed July 16, 2025.
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o GI E o 6o o E s o o- C,oo Ec Eco o t,o ot G, 6tu E- .gt -tro ,-lRlI o -4 Ir e]2 - r!.= o i:3 U -9E Feds reiect N.C. plqn on districts FBoM NEws srAFr elo wrne neponis The U.S. Justice Department to- day. objected under -the Voting Rights Act to North Carolina's rel apportionment plans for both the congressional districts and the state Senate in counties covered by the law. Assistant Attorney General William tsradford Rdynolds, in charge of the department's Civil Rights Division, said the state Senate redistricting plan has the effect of diluting the mlnority vote in some counties covered by the Votlng Rights Act. Reynolds also said the govern- rnent was unable to conclude that North Carolina's decision. to ex- clude Durham County from the Second Congressional District was not "wholly free from dis- criminatory purpose and effect." Reynolds said he therefore couldn't approve the state's con- Bressional redistrlctlng ptans for' those counties the law covers. ;. - Under the Voting Rlghts Act, I nlne states and parts of 13 others, 1 lncluding North Carolina, mustI get clearance from the Justice De- partment or a federal court before changing election laws or proce-dures. I o o. o oo i o'ga a, oc =o o U 4 oz o- -9 otu The Justlce Department said . the- Senate redistricting for sev. eral counties the Voting Rights Act covers - including Guilford, Wilson, Nash, Bertie, Edgecomb and Martin - had the eflect of diluting the minority vote. "There are cognizable concen-trations of mlnority persons whose political strength ti OituteA as a result of the use of multi- member dlstricts ln the proposed redistricting plan,". the' govern. ment said. Reynolds noted 'that the state Senate plan may have resulted from a 1968 state constitutlonal amendment prohibiting the divi- sion of counties for state legis- lative districts. Justice objected- to that provision last week. - 'Reynolds said he was ,.unable to conclude, as I must under the Voting_Rights Act, that the pro- posed lenate redistricting plah is free of a racially- discrimi-natory purpose or effect.', Reynolds' interpretatlon appar- ently means the,state must r-esort to single-membe{ aistricts tn tt oie areas to. copq ut' Wlth an accept. able redistrictlng plan. 't Conlinucd on Pogc l2A, Co!.4 ioz oIo oEu EF @ 6 o a o o d do a o oz a o o {t |a (I . Ard, say state attorneys, use ofs.ingle-member districti' ;;ri;lKely have to be statewide to in-sure a uniform plan, even thouehou counties (including Meckle-n- ourg) aren't covered by ttre taw. _fgd"V'l decision atso'spels at-most,. certain trouble toi Nori-irLarollna's redistricting plan forthe state House, since- tirat-pl-a'nwas .also developed witfr mirf[i-mem.ber districts. .lustice tiain;truled on that plan. If Mecxtenburg, which nowgets etght house seats in at.large voting, were divided lnto eight single-member districts, a Univii- sity of North Carolina at Greeni- boro study has shown ttrat at teaittwo black representatives proba- bly would be elected froin the county. There are none now. .fn tfe Senate, Mecklenburg and adjoining Cabarrus - whiclinow Iorm a four-member district _ would be divided into four, single- member districts. . The Congressional ptan's failureisn't likely to affect Mecklen- _burg's Ninth District or Repub- lican Rep. Jim Martin. fnat'Os- trict, which also includes treOett and Lincoln counties, never faced a serious threat of being changed during redistricting deliberations last -summer. Another redrawinp H%llX#H';:rY Pose tittt' oani'? Reynolds said an analysis of thecongressional redistriciine plan Lhar would exclude Ourham County showed ttre Utactipoiuia- tion in the district tras Uieri di- creasing. . ."This reduction in black poou- Jauon percentage, occurrin! ite-splre a statewide increase ii ttre !l-",.1. rypytftiol, js especiaily ciul crat tn District 2, because it dccursrn.the only district where black voters could have the potentiaiioi. erecting a candidate of their choice," Reynolds said. rytests N.C. redistricting continued from poge 1A