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Congressional Democrats Ask NC Legislature For Independent Redistricting

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Credit: Martin Falbisoner/Wikimedia Commons, http://bit.ly/2qXvrgL, http://bit.ly/1p2b8Ke)

Some members of Congress are calling on the North Carolina General Assembly to create fairer districts across the state. This comes on the heels of several recent Supreme Court rulings focused on the state.

The three members in question are Reps. Alma Adams, G.K. Butterfield and David Price – all Democrats representing places in North Carolina.

They've written a letter to Republican leaders in the General Assembly asking for independent redistricting. Currently, the state's districts are drawn every ten years by the party in power in the legislature.

According to the Charlotte Observer, the letter also asks leaders to avoid of any new voter ID legislation.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the state's congressional districts as illegal because they were drawn along racial lines. It issued a similar decision on statehouse maps.

Senate leader Phil Berger called the letter a “stunt,” saying the Republican-drawn districts are far less gerrymandered than the ones Democrats previously created.

Sean Bueter joined WFDD in August 2015 as a reporter covering issues across the Piedmont Triad and beyond.Previously, Sean was a reporter, host and news director at WBOI in Fort Wayne, Ind., just a few hours from where he grew up. He also sorted Steve Inskeep's mail as an intern at NPR in Washington, D.C.Sean has experience on a variety of beats, including race, wealth and poverty, economic development, and more. His work has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and APM's Marketplace.In his spare time, Sean plays tennis (reasonably well), golf (reasonably poorly), and scours local haunts for pinball machines to conquer.

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