Under the Dome: Both parties say they want redistricting reform – but in very different ways

Hello and welcome to your Under the Dome newsletter. Kyle Ingram and Danielle Battaglia here.

Both here and nationwide, redistricting was a central focus for lawmakers on Thursday as those on both sides of the aisle claimed the process was unfair and in need of reform.

NC Democrats propose redistricting transparency bill in Congress

All of North Carolina’s Democratic members of Congress introduced a bill to require greater transparency in the redistricting process, saying state lawmakers had drawn new maps in secret without considering the views of the public.

“Legislators are abusing their power and attempting to select their own voters through redistricting in states across the country,” Rep. Deborah Ross, of Wake County, said at a press conference on Thursday. “... It is long past time to put an end to this backward process and restore the public’s trust in their elected officials and their democracy.”

Ross and other Democratic lawmakers noted that the legislature held just three public hearings on redistricting last year — all of which happened before the new maps had been proposed.

Republicans also put language in the state budget that made most communications and drafts from the redistricting process exempt from the state’s public records law.

The new bill, called the Redistricting Transparency and Accountability Act, would require extensive opportunities for public input throughout the redistricting process. State would need to establish a public internet site with up-to-date information on redistricting and hold public hearings before and after new maps were proposed.

States have jurisdiction over their own elections, so if passed, the new bill would only affect the redistricting process for congressional maps.

With a Republican majority in the U.S. House, the bill is unlikely to have any success this session, but Ross said she was hopeful the House would elect a Democratic majority in 2024 capable of passing this legislation.

Budd pushes to exclude noncitizens from Census totals in redistricting

Back in Washington, Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina stood Thursday among a group of Senate Republicans who held their own news conference on redistricting.

Their concerns centered around people living in the United States without permission being counted in the U.S. Census. From there, the population is used to assign Electoral College votes and create congressional districts.

This is based on the Constitution’s directive that “representatives shall be apportioned among several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State.”

This includes nonvoters, like children and people disqualified because of felony convictions.

But Budd said not having a citizenship question on the Census creates more incentives for people to cross the border without permission.

“We must stop ignoring the fundamental distinction between legal citizens and illegal aliens,” Budd said. “We believe that now is the time to reverse the failed policies of the past and ensure that we have equal representation in our country.”

Sen. Bill Haggerty, a Republican from Tennessee, sponsored the Equal Representation Act with Budd’s support. The bill would prevent noncitizens from being used to create congressional districts or assign Electoral College votes. But when Haggerty was asked how he would have people prove their citizenship on the Census, he didn’t have an immediate answer.

It’s not clear that Haggerty’s bill would have enough support to move it forward in the Senate. The Senate is majority Democrat, though that number is by a slim margin, so Republicans would need their entire party and some Democrats to agree to vote in favor of the bill.

Taking noncitizens out of Census numbers for electoral purposes does have the support of both the Heritage Foundation and Rep. Chuck Edwards, of Flat Rock.

That’s all for today. Check your inbox on Sunday for more #ncpol news.

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