Voting and Civil Rights Groups File Amicus Brief in Opposition to Racially Discriminatory Voting Maps
Advocates say the new maps are yet another attempt to dilute and deny the voting power of rural, working-class Black and Latino voters
RALEIGH, N.C. — Repairers of the Breach, North Carolina Black Alliance, Black Voters Matter, and several North Carolina voters and community organizers filed an amicus brief Friday, urging the courts to reject the new maps proposed by republican legislators. Advocates contend that the maps are a purposeful blow to the state’s Historic Black Belt region and a continuation of the state’s long record of voter suppression. They warn that this is part of a deliberate strategy to sideline Black, brown, rural, and poor voters and weaken their collective voice.
Represented by attorneys at Forward Justice and Southern Poverty Law Center, groups filed the amicus brief in advance of Wednesday’s Federal Court Hearing in Winston-Salem. The brief argues that because of the North Carolina General Assembly's history of persistent voting rights violations targeting Black political power, and their introduction of laws that retaliate against the voters who built political power and challenged the prior maps, the court must take immediate action to reject the 2025 maps passed as SB 249 and protect these voters from further, irreparable harm.
“This General Assembly and the White House are engaged in political violence. They are attempting to rob people of their rights through racial gerrymandering to keep power to continue engaging in their dangerous agenda–stripping healthcare from millions of Americans, blocking living wages, and raising taxes on working people while giving tax breaks to the wealthy. The Big Bad Deadly Bill this Congress passed will allow 51,000 people to die next year due to lack of healthcare access alone,” said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President & Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach.
“In fair elections, these extremists know they can’t win and are undemocratically trying to seize control in a way that does not reflect the will of the voters of North Carolina. They are afraid of fusion coalitions of Black, White, Brown, Asian and indigenous folks coming together, and are trying to undo n
inety years of progress through this racist attack on Black belt counties. In the names of all those who have been lost and impacted by policy violence, we are going to litigate and fight back. We will not go away quietly,” he said.
Who: Repairers of the Breach, NC Black Alliance, Black Voters Matter, and Individual voters: Enfield Mayor William “Mondale” Robinson, Edgecombe County Commissioner Viola Harris, Wesley Stokes (President of the Eastern North Carolina Civic Group), Theodore McNeal Jr., and Glendora Brothers, represented by attorneys from Forward Justice and Southern Poverty Law Center
When: A hearing on the challenge to the new maps will be held at 1 pm, Wednesday, Nov. 19
Where: U.S. District Court Hiram H. Ward Federal Building- 251 N. Main Street Winston-Salem, NC 27101
“Fair maps are critical because they stop those in power from deciding which Black, brown, and poor communities get a voice in our democracy,” said Danielle Brown, National Co-Field Director for Black Voters Matter. “Any manipulation of these lines is not just political maneuvering, it is a direct attack on the hard fought right of marginalized people in North Carolina to be heard, seen, and represented.”
Marcus Bass, Executive Director of North Carolina Black Alliance, says, “Communities who have long been pushed to the margins are being pushed out of political power yet again. The effort to distort these maps is an attempt to weaken the collective voice of Black and brown voters who have fought too hard and sacrificed too much to be silenced now.”
“As elected officials, our job is to guarantee that every voter has a fair chance to be heard, and these kinds of actions move us further away from that promise,” said Viola Harris, Edgecombe County Commissioner. “This is yet another sign that some lawmakers in this state are working to systematically quiet the voices of North Carolinians instead of doing their jobs and listening to them.”
Additional Information: Recently, the Republican leaders of the North Carolina General Assembly released new proposed voting maps during mid-cycle redistricting designed to ensure that the GOP can maintain its control over the U.S. Congress in the 2026 midterm elections. They intend to gain this additional seat by splitting the Black population of Eastern North Carolina (the “Black Belt”) between Congressional District 1 (“CD-1”) and Congressional District 3 ("CD-3”) so that Black voters in both districts will be unable to elect a candidate of their choice. CD-1 includes some of the state’s poorest rural counties. Flipping the seat by weakening the communities means less attention to rural hospitals, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, agricultural support, and disaster recovery that disproportionately affect Black and low-income residents. If this 2025 map is allowed to stand, the distinct voice of rural Black communities, with different needs from metro districts, would be diminished. Although there are more than 1 million Black men residing in North Carolina, Rep. Davis is the only Black male representative in the state legislature currently.