Democrat Senate Leader Dan Blue: “There’s no reason anybody ought to hide what they’re looking at as they draw new districts for court review.”

After the maps initially drawn by Legislative Republicans were deemed unconstitutional, legislators now have another chance to redraw congressional and state legislative districts. Now, with the deadline just two days away, North Carolinians wait to see if the newly drawn maps introduced by the legislature will be constitutional or simply another unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.

Despite Republicans’ initial commitment to transparency, they have adopted a more secretive approach to this redraw. They refused to share where they would be drawing maps until pushed by reporters to share the location, then informed WRAL that “the curtains stay closed,” preventing media and members of the public from viewing the process. This is less transparent than last year when there was a livestream at map drawing terminals.

Republican House Redistricting Chair Destin Hall already lied when he said last year’s drawing process was “the most transparent redistricting in North Carolina history.” He later admitted to cheating by using secret concept maps that were later destroyed. Now, Republicans have strayed further and further away from their initial commitment to transparency.

In contrast, Democratic Leadership in the General Assembly condemned the Republicans’ secretive approach saying “there’s no reason anybody ought to hide what they’re looking at as they draw new districts” and sharing where they were drawing their maps.

“North Carolina voters have dealt with costly and confusing redistricting litigation for much of the last decade. If sunlight is the best disinfectant, then these maps drawn in darkness likely contain unconstitutional rot,” said North Carolina Executive Director Meredith Cuomo. “It’s past time to pull back the curtains and give North Carolinians the transparency they deserve.”