U.S. Rules N.C. Law Violates Voting Rights (The Charlotte Observer)

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From Charlotte And The Carotinas , ( Classifieds, page 12C )
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Story or Picture ldea? Call (704) 379-6459 8 a.m.-Midnight

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*ASHrNcro* _ ii.l,*ce Depart. l:!iffil:[:]i",!"il:T;lf; *11|f.,:,:i,1, 

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lnent said ruesda'a 1966 li.c. constitu- tricts." '"- '--., -'- 

-. ' The Justice Department was careful totional amendmeni that pronibrts Oir:ialrg . 'l-h.e decision pleases both the NaaCn;,,rote in its letter that the decision ,,should
counties to form General Assembl.v elecr LeSal o.i.ni.-;;d E;r;;;;;"i',;;;';;;-;,.i" no way be regarded as precluding the
li;n,:'i:i:'s viorates the 1s6s voring 

i1i.il;a;,*ji*i*1,..r:l,,li :;..,::fi.,1,:jl,: ll:r leriowiJrc a pori.cy er.preserv-

Voting Rights Act. The state . has 100
c:unties.

But Brock added that tvhile the cteci-
sion does not force the state to split coun-
ties, it "would be possible but it would be
difficult" to avoid such divisions.

William l{ale, legal counsel to the legis-
lature's House Redistricting Commit[ee,
said he believed the ruling rvould har.c to
apply statewide. "I u'ouldn't think vou.could have a constitutional amendment

, applying to only 60 counties," he said.

r\'6,,,r) nLL. tiona.ll-v thought of as allies on voting ,.,,ingt.county lines v,,hJnever feasibl.e in for.In a letter to Ale\ Brock, executir.e rights issues. mulating its new districts.,,s^'-'iail' af lhe state board of elections, -soth groups back [arvsuits aimed at In an interyierv, Brock pointed out that.\irrtiam B;'adford Revnolds, assistant at' 'forcing ihe beneral aisemuty to draw thedecisioncoversonlythe40N.c.coun.torne!' general for. tivit rigfrrc, wioie: . ij,1g1..rember $ouse ,and Senate: dis.. ,ties, mostly in,the east, that fall under the

House Speaker Liston Ramsey said
Tuesday it now appears likely that the ,

General Assembll' u'ill have a special ses-
sion in January to redra!v the districts for r

the 120 House and 50 Senate seats. The
legislature had a special session in Oc-
tober to revise earlier redistricting plans. l

"i don't'knorv rvho's right and u'ho's
wrong on this," Ramsey said. "I do know .

See U.S. RULES Page t lC, Col. I

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&c. Luw T/iolates YotitlgRighr, "'j
ri.lX,'ur'f',li:"1ffJ'fl:1"R,'jl"b; ,.I','*"x:r.i::rl:gjj-!!.,*'^rI rican chairman.,, on the other IIicans as a minorin' r,.i.-]duna tne- je"cision ;a;;;;";;;.';iil il':fil, ;l'Tfiit;"r,?io.,rf,J:l,.rl
lliil.,Ix"T"' ijl;::i51i*:*;:i :li",y:1.t1!i*:.rs:"I;t", and other srare Repubricansincrusion in raree, murtimemb-ei ;aii.i.l;;r;i;;ffi;; ffi';::l'JI# i:.", ,";?:l ,li5l:,r[ig:ilj:;?: i. districrs rvith heavv oemocratii *,"s [oing to ue mioe-in 

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just bright and guessed,,,he said. iregistration. ' 

.-, _' ning ?neeting. As late as 5 p.m. r

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. But Leslie Winner. a Charlotte
rawyer representing the Legal De-
Iense and Education Fund, said of
the decision: .,They did what we
wanted them to."

Winner believes that while it ispossible to draw single-member
districts in such a wav as to hold
dorvn the number of 'black 

Gen-
crLl Assembly members, it u,ill bedifficult. There are three black
members of the House and one
Dla_ck member of the Senate.
. because blacks have been sub..;

fi :f i,,:."',l"H,l::" ;:fJitlli?l; 
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tt?:,:lll.l{,il cities' winner said.

N.C. Republican Chairman Da- tt .v *.*'rr":yiriinJ'i.Ji"riJnrrr.ovjd Flaherty hailed Tuesday's O.- Uee"n miOe.
:i:19-n, sa-r'ing:_,'I think ii takes --Sri"6v 

midafternoon, Flahertvaway their (Democraric .legis- *as teiting-;;pr.i;;;'i,;d 'il;;
Iators') excuse for not going: to told oi the decision.single-member districts.', Sri; irock: ,,I,ve dealt r'ith theAsked horv she felt takrng the Justice b.purtr.nt roi'ro'ij..r.s_ame side as Repubricans on-a'ot... and n.rer'nld' it,ur'i.ni.. ii.i,rn8 rssues' Lani Guiner, a \\'ash- decision trioreh'i-h; itiiJ n.llu-
l,,lFt9n.larv_r'er for the funo, said, ,--'-'-'."lt feels u.eird.', But she quickly
a.d.dqd: "We're very pleased. Wi :
Ihrnk justice has been done,"

The state corrld annert thn Irrc-



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Bree.y '

I tow.O - H,gh 50!
Dciorlr, Poge 7B

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Largost evening nowspaper in The Carolinas '':.

Chorlotle, North Corolino, Tuesdoy,

'in-j*gisloture
_ - ,o1,.o*"'

precincts.

Pat Feeney and Paul Luebke,
f rom UNC-Greensboro's depart.
ment of sociology, came uP with
the figures in a study of voting
trends in five metropolitan coun.
ties.

In the last state legislative elec-
tion, for instance, black Demo'
cratic House candidate Bertha
Ivlaxwell would likelY have been
elected by a PredominantlY black
district. As it was, however, she
narrowly lost her bid' finishing
ninth in the race for eiiht seats n
despite a strong showing in black, '--

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25( vot.93 . No. 307 . .26 Poges r (C) l98l Thc Chorlottc Newr oei. lltcst

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By DAN FESPERMAN
OF THE NEWS SIAFF

P.ALEIGH - In a ruling that
could bolster black representation
in the state legislature, and espe-
cially in the Mecklenburg County
delegation, the U.S. Justice ? De-
partment has rejected a state con-
stitutional amendment that f or-
bids splitting counties for
legislative districts.

Leslie Winner, a Charlotte at-
torney involved in a lawsuit
against the state's political redis-
tricting plans, said she was in-
formed of the ruling Monday. She
expected to receive written con-

firmation in this afternoon's mail.
Unless the ruling is overturned

by an appeal to federal court in
Washington, the state:s recentll'
redra'ivn legislative districts will

. probably also be turned dorvn bY
the Justice Department. That's be-
cause the rejected Provision
greatl)'affected the shaPes and
boundaries of those districts.

In lvlecklenburg, the Provision
has meant the countY has been an.
eight-member, at'large district in
the state House. In the state Sen--
ate, Mecklenburg has been
lumped together with adjoining
Cabarrus CountY as a four-mem-.

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But such large districts smother'. attorney for plaintiffb, contends
the state's urban pockets of black .;that-the plans should be rejected
voting strength, critics say. because the state never bothered

a lustici Department of ficial to clear the constitutiooal provi'
said the action is officially termed lsion with Justice officials when it
an objection to the amendment be' lwas first drawn up in 1967.
cause it is not enforceable under j"' When the suit was filed' the
the Voting Rights Act of 1965' . state responded by finally sendi-ng

The officiil saii he tva,s not sure , the provision to washington for
what effect the ruiing will have. clearance' But Monday's ruling

In a lawsuit filed against the Without the provision, the state'
recently redrawn p[ans, the would presumably have to split
NAACP Legal Defense Fund Mecklenburg into eight separate
voiced complaints about the House di,stricts, and split the
amendment. .]'. .. ' ,. ''.. ,, Mecklen6urg-Cabarrus Senate.+.. ..r:, ,.. ..,_,, .:...j ' .;: .i..., ...'-:. ..-,i'--- . .*-; i .{..:

i'dirtri.t into four pieces.
\ And, just as single-member dis-
tricts increased black representa'
tion on the Charlotte City Council'
single-member House districts
would likely increase black repre-' sentation in Ivlecklenburg's Iegis-
lative delegation.

All of the count,"s eight rePre'
, sentatives and four senators are
white.

With single-member districts,
at least two of the House mem'
bers would be black' according to

iresearch by two Greensboro soci'
elogists.

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