RALEIGH, N.C. – Today, Civitas Institute filed a public records request, pursuant to Chapter 132 of the North Carolina General Statutes, asking Representatives Deb Butler (New Hanover-D) and Darren Jackson (Wake-D), as well as House Speaker Tim Moore (Cleveland-R), for all correspondence and documentation related to the legislative redistricting meeting held on the morning of September 11th, 2019, referred to by Rep. Butler on the House floor.
As Civitas policy analyst, Leah Byers, has reported, “While railing on the Speaker for calling the vote, [Representative Butler] says, ‘We’re downstairs right now trying to redraw partisan-heavy maps.’ (Found at the 13 minute mark on this audio from ncleg.gov).”
Per a recent court ruling, “Legislative Defendants and their agents shall conduct the entire remedial process in full public view. At a minimum, this requires all map drawing to occur at public hearings, with any relevant computer screen visible to legislators and public observers. Legislative Defendants and their agents shall not undertake any steps to draw or revise the new districts outside of public view.”
“The Legislative Defendants in this case are not individuals, but rather elected officials in official capacities – namely Rep. David Lewis as chair of the House Redistricting Committee. The plain language of the court order can only be construed to mean that any legislator working on redistricting as part of the committee’s work should be doing that work in public. If the maps that Rep. Butler referred to exist, then they and their associated methodology are public records,” said Civitas President and CEO Donald Bryson.
Civitas Institute’s request includes all documents including maps, written materials, spreadsheets and software and includes all formats paper, electronic or audio. We request that the information be furnished in the original format.
A copy of these public records requests may be accessed here:
