Congressional Record S6937-S6970

    r/,L- r//2k ilo,.J €K/tJ Q
AFFIDAVI

t{illiam Kenneth HaIe, being duly sworn, deposes and says:

1. I am an attorney licensed in the State of tlorth Carollna and an employed by

the North Carolina Genera'l Assembly, I served as chief counsel to the House

Legislat.ive Redistricting Conmittee (hereinafter, the Committee) for the 1981

General Assemb'lY.

Z. I was furnished by the North Carolina Department of Justice with a computer

printout of the North Carolina House Plan that was formulated by lth' Michael S' Michalec

for the p'laint.iffs in cavanagh v. Brock (82-545-CIV-5), I had our computer operators

place the data from the Michalec House Plan into our computer for verification and

analysis. 51e used the same computer program that was employed by the 1981 General

Assembly in developing the North Carolina House Legislative Redistricting Plan.

3. I then drew a map to graphically dep'ict the Michalec House Plan. I inmediately

noticed that the 26th House District consisted of two noncontiguous areas in viola-

tion of Article II, Section 5(2) of the Constitution of North Carolina: To wit'

Robeson County on the one hand, and Anson, Montgomery, and Richmond Counties and

Laurel Hil1 Township of Scotland County on the other hand, are separated by the

remainder of Scotland County, wtrich is in the 25th District'

4. The Michalec House plan does not adequate'ly recognize the concentrations of

black population in the following counties that are covered by the Voting Rights

Act of 1965 and that were specifically addressed by the United States Attorney

General in his letters of objection: Cumberland, Guilford, Halifax, Caswell,

Northampton, Hertford, Martin, and Gates, Specifically the Michalec House Plan does

not subdivide Guilford or Cumberland Counties to recognize the voting strength of

black citizens as does the North carolina House Plan.



o
r-;
i-

5. To illustrate mY Point

that I cited in ParagraPh 4 of

comparison chart:

about the counties

this affidavit' I

other than Guilford and Cumberland

have compiled the following

COUNTY

Caswel l
Northampton
Gates
Hal ifax
Mart i n
Hertford

REPS.

3
I
1

1

1

1

N. C. HOUSE PLAN

DISTRICT'S BLACK POP. T

39.4%
60,9r
60,91

62,0% I 39.4#'.
46.4% I 62.0%*

50.9%

MICHALEC HOUSE PLAN

REPS. DISTRICT'S BLACK POP, 1

2 22,9I
1 43,4r
1 49,0fl
2 42.3* | 43,4%*
I 51,0%
1 49.01

The aster.icks indicate where counties have been divided and the composite

townships have been placed in two districts. The first figure indicates the

d.istrict,s black population percentage for the greater number of county residents'

6, Section 5 of the voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits any change in election

practice or procedure having either the effect or purpose of denying or abridging

the right to vote on account of race or color. In its enforcement of the Act, the

united States Department of Justice has used two population thresholds in determin-

ing whether a racial minority has a maiority of voters in any particular district'

Because of a high percentage of nonvoting age persons and the presence of low voter

reg.istration and turnout among racial minorities' the Department considers a racial

,,minority,,popu'lation percentage of at least 651 of a district's total population

and 60% of a d.istrict,s voting age population necessary for members of a racial

minority to have an opportun'ity to elect a candidate of their choice. united states v'

Mississippi, 100 s,ct. gg4, gg7 (1980), These figures are based on an assumption

of polarized or bloc voting'

7. In his letter of January 20,1982, to Mr' Alex K' Brock' Assistant U'S'

Attorney General Hil:liam Bradford Reynolds stated that North Carolina's "use of

large multi-member districts effective'ly submerges sizeable concentrations of black

population into a majority wtrite electorate." Based on Section 5 standards,

Mr. Reynolds further stated:

-?-



L- o
Our analysis also shows that the p'lan has o!h9l dilutive effects
on Uf ack vot'ing.itrength in covered areas of the State' For instance'
in the Bertie,-Gates,-Ha] ifax, Hertford, Martin. and l{ortharnpton

iorn[i.r-a.ei'(District 5), t[e State proposes to reduce the black

il.lirtig. iio'i 57,5% to 5i.71 in this 3-member district' Black

voters.ii ttre current multi-member district have been able to elect a

o

iinJiaate in District 5. Thus, the proposed reduction in black popula-

iion petcentase in ir'ui di striit ,,oyid. 
'appear 

!o.ue^3 1ttl99i:::i:'..ii
candidate in District 5. Thus, the
tion percentage in that district vtould appear to be a retrogresslon rn

itre poiiiion of raci al minorities wtric.h.res.pect. to t!9ir,.effective' use

li=r#'li#i.r} franchise. aeer v, unit&-$e!.t, 425 u.S. 130, 141 (1976)'

l4r, Reynolds then concluded,,,In view of these proscribed effects, however, I

am unable to conclude, as I must under the Voting Rights Act, that the proposed

House reapportionment plan is free of a racially discriminatory purpose and effect'

Accord.ingly, on beha'lf of the Attorney General, I must interpose an obiection to

the House plan as it relates to the covered counties."

g. In order to meet the requirements of the Voting Rights Act, and under the

advice and supervision of l,h. Jerris Leonard, an attorney in I'lashington, D.C', wrth

extensive experience in Voting Rights Act administration and litigation, the legis-

lative staff and House Legislative Redistricting conmittee then proceed to create

single-member House districts in the Northeast. The black population percentage of

each township was indicated on a large map, and townships were grouped into sing'le-

member districts in accordance w'ith the population percentage standards mentioned

in Paragraphs 6 and 7 of this affidavit, At the same time, in drawing these

districts,,,one person, one vote" requirements were recognized and followed by the

staff and conm.ittee to the end that a'll district relative deviations did not exceed

plus or minus five Percent (+51)'

g. The resu]ts of this effort were the northeast district configurations enacted

by the General Assembly in the First Extra Session 1982 (Session Law Chapter 4 -

House Bill 1). The 5th and 7th Districts, with black population percentages of

60.91 and 62,0X respectively, contain the highest percentages of blacks attainable

under the 19g0 census data, In order to create these districts in accordance with

the U.S, Justice Department,s population thresholds mentioned in Paragraph 6 of

this affidavit, there had to be wtrolesale disregard for the county lines in this

area. Attention had to be directed at those townships with high concentrations of

blacks that could be grouped into single-member districts' There are, of course'



l=

other configurations that yield three single-member districts in this geographical

area, but to date no other such plan has been drawn that provides for two districts

with black populations of 62.0% and 60,91.

10. The entire northeast area of the Michalec House Plan would have to be

redrawn in order to meet the objections interposed by the U.S. Attorney General.

Redrawing this area wou'ld in turn require redrawing almost every other district

line in the piedmont and eastern sections of the State. Redistricting experience

has shown that the resulting transfers of townships between districts in the east

will naturally have a "ripple" or "domino" effect that would extend to Guilford

County and its adjacent counties.

11. My calculations indicate to me that it is not possib'le in drawing North

Carol ina House distr jcts to comply w'ith federal statutory and constitutiona'l

redistricting requirements and the objections of the U,S. Attorney Genera'l without

dividing counties that are not covered by the Voting Rights Act of 1965,

this

1983.

My Connission Expires 9- a(- 83

:

I

Sworn to subscribed before me

-4-