Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Redistricting and Gerrymandering in North Carolina

I recently had the opportunity to participate in the Abe Holtzman Public Policy Forum at NC State University on redistricting and gerrymandering in North Carolina, presented by NC State's School of Public & International Affairs with funding provided by the MacArthur Foundation.

The folks at Common Cause NC videotaped the presentations, and my presentation starts at about the 40 minute mark.

The first speaker, Dr. Andy Taylor, professor of political science at NC State University, began the forum with a general overview of the principles behind redistricting in North Carolina. The second speaker, Dr. Allan Parnell of the Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities, discussed the growth in population in the state since the 2010 census, and then I presented some thoughts on how it's not just the maps, but us as polarized and sorted voters, who are impacting this issue.

The forum concluded with remarks from NC State Representatives Grier Martin and Skip Stam.

An update: Rob Christensen at the Raleigh News & Observer has written a column on the forum last week.