Please urge the General Assembly to open its redistricting process to more public scrutiny and citizen input. LWV of Wake County has put together an important action alert for this week – view it in its entirety here.

Last week, the NC House and Senate Redistricting Committees met and discussed timing and locations of public hearings on redistricting. 

The problem? Only 10 meetings are scheduled across North Carolina, and they are too spread out to provide sufficient opportunities for public input. There is no plan for public input around the state after draft maps are released. In addition, the public has no access to the comments that have been submitted via the public portal, and there is no timeline for the redistricting process. Information is being released sporadically and with insufficient notice of meetings. 

“The redistricting process will have far-reaching implications for years to come. Many organizations, including LWVNC, have asked for transparency in the process and opportunities for adequate review and public input on draft plans. Those requests have been ignored,” said Jo Nicholas, president of LWVNC. “The proposed plan calls for far fewer public hearings than were provided in 2011 when 62 hearings in 36 counties were convened before and after maps were drafted. With communications technology making the sharing of information easier, we should be increasing transparency, not moving backward.”

What can you do? 

• Provide input on the General Assembly’s redistricting public comment portal. Even if you’ve already commented, you can leave additional remarks focused on public input. Find talking points here.
   
• Contact members of the House and Senate Redistricting Committees by phone, email, or mail. Tell them that the current plan for public input is unacceptable. Find legislators' contact information here.
   
• Use Twitter to call on members of the House and Senate Redistricting Committees to do the right thing. Ask them to commit to real public input. Twitter handles are here.
   
• Like, share, or retweet social media posts from the League and other organizations promoting redistricting reform. 
   

Let's flood legislators’ inboxes and their comment portal with our concerns about this plan, which they may vote on this week! Please take a few minutes to speak up, and share this alert widely.