North Carolina legislative districts to be redrawn

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — In 2011, the Districts for House and Senate were redrawn in North Carolina. This past August, Federal Judges deemed those lines unconstitutional due to racial gerrymandering.

Those judges have now come back on Tuesday and said that those lines have to be redrawn.

If it stands, Tuesday’s ruling means that members of the State House and Senate elected just three weeks ago, like Representative Susi Hamilton, will have to run again next year.

She says that it’s not a big deal to run again, but she hopes change comes from the new districts.

“What I’m hoping for is a more fair and equitable representation of the state of North Carolina as opposed to pure partisan politics driving how the districts are drawn.” Representative Hamilton said.

After they run in 2017, they will run for re-election again in 2018.

The hope for Representative Hamilton is that the election produces something good after running three times in three years.

“I think that the impact that this will have is that it will bring more people to the polls just by way of having more people on the ballot to vote for.” Representative Hamilton said.

Attorneys representing legislative mapmakers wanted more time to redraw for the next election in 2018 and those lawmakers now say they’ll appeal the decision.

However, a lawyer who successfully sued over the districts says this special election is the best way to protect the rights of North Carolina residents.

We reached out to every person who won a state senate or house race in our area and they have not yet gotten back to us.