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Redistricting process underway in North Carolina

North Carolina state districts map

The North Carolina state legislative map that was struck down for violating the state constiution.

arcgis.com

The redrawing of North Carolina's state legislative map has started, as legislators look to meet the Sept. 18 deadline imposed by the three-judge panel that ruled the old map unconstitutional.

Republican lawmakers on the House and Senate redistricting committees proposed using districts that were generated as part of models by University of Michigan redistricting expert Jowei Chen, who testified for plaintiffs during the trial, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. Most Democratic lawmakers are on board with use of the maps, given the time constraints.

The final maps will have to be approved by both General Assembly chambers.


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The path forward for electoral reform

The National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers hosted its post-election gathering Dec. 2-4 in San Diego. More than 120 leaders from across the country convened to reflect on the November elections, where reform campaigns achieved mixed results with multiple state losses, and to chart a path forward for nonpartisan electoral reforms. As the Bridge Alliance Education Fund is a founding member of NANR and I currently serve on the board, I attended the gathering in hopes of getting some insight on how we can best serve the collective needs of the electoral reform community in the coming year.

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People wait to vote in the 2024 election at city hall in Anchorage, Alaska.

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How Alaska is making government work again

At the end of a bitter and closely divided election season, there’s a genuine bright spot for democracy from our 49th state: Alaskans decided to keep the state’s system of open primaries and ranked choice voting because it is working.

This is good news not only for Alaska, but for all of us ready for a government that works together to get things done for voters.

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How to reform the political system to fight polarization and extremism

On Dec. 19, at 6 p.m., Elections Reform Now will present a webinar on “How to Reform the Political System to Combat Polarization and Extremism.”

In 2021, a group of the leading academics in the United States formed a task force to study the polarization of the American electorate and arrive at solutions to the dysfunction of our electoral system. They have now written a book, "Electoral Reform in the United States: Proposals for Combating Polarization and Extremism," published just this month.

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Yes, elections have consequences – primary elections to be specific

Can you imagine a Republican winning in an electoral district in which Democrats make up 41 percent of the registered electorate? Seems farfetched in much of the country. As farfetched as a Democrat winning in a R+10 district.

It might be in most places in the U.S. – but not in California.

Republican Rep. David Valadao won re-election in California's 22nd congressional district, where registered Republicans make up just shy of 28 percent of the voting population. But how did he do it?

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