Thread by @bribrough

Getting things started here in Alamance County. Rep Hardister is presiding.

Room is pretty full.

John Hartwell from Hillsborough. Lives on a farm with 3 other families. Everyone in his community votes and wants the committee to know they are being watched. Believes in one person one vote. Wants transparency, to see the maps, restore faith in democracy.

Irving Zavoleta Jiminez asks committee to protect communities of color in east Burlington from being split. Black, Brown, working class families of all backgrounds , eat together at restaurants in town on Church street. Hopes we’re here to strengthen democracy.

He adds that they should avoid packing and cracking. Draw districts that are compact, abide by section 2, and do not divide marginalized communities.

Next up is Alan Shuckbeer of Alamance. Pleads for an independent committee. Keep bias out.

Rev Beth McKee Huber: Need non-partisan criteria. Voters should choose representatives, not the other way around. Wants to see a competitive process.

Chris Malone, from Jamestown. Precinct chair from Jamestown. Props for starting with a dad joke. Something about a vampire and a snowman. His precinct is evenly split between Rs, Ds, and Unaffiliateds. 80% turnout in his district.

Continues that he wants the committee to be fair and use an independent commissions. Be compact, no breaking up of COIs. Transparency. Publish draft district maps.

Peter Boykin Running for congress in this district. Wants it to be well-rounded. Thinks legislature is doing things fairly. Wants something solid that doesn’t keep changing. Move back dates of primary to give more time for people who are running.

Donna VanHook, of East Burlington, with the NC Black Alliance. Mentions western electric site that is contaminated - there is a 11 year life expectancy discrepancy in neighborhoods nearby.

She wants fair, just mapping that benefits Communities of Color, and to see revitalization in East Burlington which deals with food insecurity and other issues. Keep East Burlington together.

Brittany Carter of Alamance County, Wants to see the map before it’s final so we can comment on that and then revise it based on those comments. No gerrymandering. Believes that her vote counts, says everyone’s should. Doesn’t want able-bodied people to do mail-in ballots.

Ian Baltunas, Mayor of Burlington, speaking as a private citizen. People are confused about the districts. Asks for dense, logical and representative districts. Burlington is diverse- 50% of pop is BIPOC. Our community is engine of Alamance economy and we need representation.

Chair pauses meeting to say room is at capacity and people are waiting outside. In case anyone wants to leave and let more people come in. Some people take him up on it.

Omar Lugo of Alamance County applauds openness and transparency. People talking about communities of interest, black and brown, but only colors we should defend are blue, red and white. No common understanding of what a community of interest is. Should only be considered last

Jennifer Bremer of Orange County: Redistricting requires a dialogue. Politicians drawing maps is a conflict of interest. Quotes NC constitution “All political power derives from the people.” Asks they support constitution. Says hearings AFTER draft maps are most important.

Don McKinnon, of High Point. Keep high point whole, offered house maps that he drew.

Didn't catch his name, said he's a candidate for H63 from Mebane. Saw another candidate state he had inside info on what new districts will look like. We should have opportunity to comment after we see draft maps.

Tyler Daye of Guilford, Grateful his community is currently together - for the first time in his life. Was previously packed into district 12. Fair voting districts is the civil rights issue of our time. Keep COIs intact, let us comment on draft maps.

Phyllis Demco, LWV Wake County, Wonders if they are really listening. Schedule has missed Guilford and Wake. Insufficient public announcement and publicity. We want to read the comments in the portal. Makes us wonder if you will even read them.

She continues, We know what you do now will affect what we do for the next 10 years. Make your final decisions public. Criteria “debate” made it seem that you had already decided behind closed doors. Don’t do that again.

Lynn McCoy, UNA voter from Guilford, where there is no hearing. Hearings in 13 counties out of 100 is not enough. Should have been more notice and publicity of criteria and meetings.

She says COIs should be respected. No incumbent protection - no matter what side you’re on. Gerrymandering is wrong no matter who does it. We need hearings after maps are drawn.

Peggy Ferebe, Summerfield, First became interested in gerrymandering when she realized her vote barely mattered because either there was no competition or it was gerrymandered. Young people are fed up and don’t believe in the system. Wants hearings after maps.

Anthony Pierce, Haw River - Melville Community NAACP Alamance branch, Thanks committee for their service. Voting process should be fair and convenient to all. Communities, neighborhoods, precincts should not be divided. It confuses voters and should never be done.

James Adams of High Point, Wants a fair and equitable process. We’ve been living through the results of the last process. VRA of 1965 gave us a fair and equitable process. Our children deserve that too.

Rev. T. Anthony Spearman, NAACP Pres. Asks hardister for his cell phone number (he’s a constituent). Political parties of instruments of tyranny. All our politics are producing is pain. We need more public servants. Public servants would produce fair maps.

Peter O'Connell of Guilford. Active Republican voter. Urges committee to carry out their duties. It’s a legislative process. Do what is fair, right, follow the rules and don’t change the again in the middle of the gain.

Says the people already have spoken - they have elected their representatives, all of you. Disregard “non-partisan experts” there is no such thing. It’s just people who have failed to obtain their goals at the ballot box to carry out their goals in other means.

Elliott Lynch of Alamance County Grew up on farm - sharecroppers. One of the highlights of the year was to load up in the car to go vote. We have farms, urban areas, in Alamance. Asks committee NOT to split Alamance County, cities, neighborhoods.

Adds that he lives 5 min drive from Orange County. Other side of district 13 is almost in charlotte. That doesn’t make sense. "When I go vote, I pass a church several blocks from my house but have to drive miles to get to my polling station." Districts should be compact.

Elle Harris of Rockingham County - People in my county are not represented. People can’t get here. Offering live stream was not perfect, but it was more transparent. Need to hold more hearings. Took off work to get here today.

Alejandro Garcia, of Burlington. We need fair and transparent maps so communities of color can stop being segregated in order to fill elected official’s agenda. NC latino population has grown 40%.

Adds that all minority populations have grown. Draw districts so my kids and neighbors have reps who represent them, who look like them. We’re tired of having people in power who don’t look like us or represent us.

Ron Osbourne, Alamance County farmer. I would characterize current maps as less bad. Still not good. Still guarantee safe seats for reps. Maps should meet not just the letter, but the spirit of the law. Wants truly representative democracy.

Says he has been a registered R and D. Helps neighbors vote regardless of party. That’s ok - that’s democracy. Wants a process that is true, fair and equal. Thinks independent, non-partisan commission is the way to go.

Paul Walker of Alamance County, Retired Ag agent. Traveled extensively between Alamance, Guilford, Orange. Wants committee to consider geographical areas - look at townships. Stop the political gerrymandering. I saw both parties do it - it’s not pleasant to watch.

Paul Riley from NC A&T Skipped US presidency class to be here today. Why wasn’t Guilford, home of past gerrymandering included in hearing schedule? Talks about previous split of NC A&T - intentionally to dilute our voting power. Says not to do that again.

Says younger voters are cynical. Do not gerrymander us into oblivion again. We want these legislative sessions to be more accessible, so I can go to class.

Jay Kent of Burlington. Great mystery of every election is what my congressional district will look like. We are here because we hope this time it will be different. WE have no evidence that it will, but we’re asking for equitable, districts. Do not racially gerrymander

Peter Shay Wants independent commission but in the absence, and opposition to gerrymandering. Wants compactness, District 13 is an abomination. Respect for city boundaries, precincts, etc. Redistricting should avoid cracking of minority communities. Supports hearings after maps.

Lee Haywood of Summerfield plans to run for 6th district. Thanks the committee, says there is no such thing as a nonpartisan commission. Process is transparent now. Asks for Forsyth and all counties to be kept whole. Makes no sense to have hyper partisan districts.

Susan B. McLanahan of Orange County. We spent over $11 million on litigation in the last decade. That money is wasted when there are so many things the people of NC want that you have ignored - education funding, medicaid expansion, etc.

Wants 2 hearings per congressional districts after draft maps, and to move the primary back where it used to be (May) so there is more time for a full process. Share shape files so Princeton gerrymandering project can assess them so we know if we’re being gerrymandered.

Tom Rokosky of Orange County is surprised that there is not have a presentation to the public of the redistricting process, along with provisional maps .When he lived in Watauga 10 years ago, his rep gave a presentation.

Liked the Iowa model. Wants to know what model will be used this time, where the 14th district will go. You’re starting late and running out of time. Good gov requires transparency. Move back time for filing.

And with that, Rep. Hardister thanks everyone, reminds them they can access info at ncleg.gov, adjourns meeting.

@UnrollHelper Please unroll