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WASHINGTON, D.C. (WNCN) — The redrawing of North Carolina’s congressional map is receiving pushback from Washington, D.C.
The four Democrats representing North Carolina in the U.S. House — Alma Adams of the 12th district, Don Davis of the 1st district, Valerie Foushee of the 4th district, and Deborah Ross of the 2nd district — reintroduced the Redistricting Transparency and Accountability Act on Tuesday.
The bill gives the public more time to comment on proposed maps, requires lawmakers to disclose more information, and discloses data on who would be impacted by a new map.
“This bill is about making the redistricting process more transparent and giving the public more opportunity for input,” Ross said.
The reintroduction of the bill comes less than one month after the Republican-controlled North Carolina General Assembly passed a new map to give the GOP one more seat in Congress. Under the new map, Davis’s district in the eastern region is favorable to Republicans.
“Nobody knows exactly who drew [the new maps] or the affiliation,” Ross said. “Almost no opportunity for the public comment other than through a portal. Debate was cut off on the floor.”
Republican leaders in the North Carolina General Assembly have said the redistricting process was fair and they accepted public comment. They have also said they were heeding a call from President Donald Trump to redraw the map.
In response, Ross said state legislatures should not redistrict at the request of the president.
“We need to get back to having redistricting in the hands of the people as opposed to the hands of the powerful,” she said.
Ross added the redrawing should be in the hands of an independent redistricting commission, which North Carolina currently does not have.
“When I was in the General Assembly, back when [current U.S. Senator] Thom Tillis was speaker of the North Carolina House, we had a bipartisan bill pass the House for an independent redistricting commission. I was one of the primary sponsors of that.”
The Redistricting Transparency and Accountability Act was first introduced in January 2024 after North Carolina’s congressional map was redrawn the previous year. The state’s 14 districts were split evenly between Democrats and Republicans before the redrawing, but the 2023 map led to Republicans winning three U.S. House seats in 2024 and gaining a 10-4 majority.
With the current map, Republicans are expected to increase their U.S. House majority in North Carolina to 11-3.
Davis has introduced another bill against the new map, which is intended to prevent congressional districts from being redrawn in the middle of a decade.
CBS 17 has reached out to Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill for an interview and is waiting to hear back.
In an interview last month, Republican congressman Brad Knott called the topic “a state legislative prerogative”.
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Deana Harley
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