Podcast: Explore North Carolina’s long history of gerrymandering election maps
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Maps Under the Microscope
At least once a decade, state lawmakers rebuild North Carolina’s election maps. This process of redistricting carries a set of rules. But those rules – and how well mapmakers follow them – get intense scrutiny from the courts almost as soon as the maps become law. This is The N&O’s special report: “Political Maps under the Microscope.”
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Podcast: Explore North Carolina’s long history of gerrymandering election maps
Want to design NC redistricting maps? Here’s an app to draw your own political lines.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This News & Observer podcast, published in 2021, remains relevant to anyone interested in how politicians draw election-district maps. Their boundaries profoundly influence whether elections will — or will not — be competitive.
In a four-episode 2021 podcast, The News & Observer explored how lawmakers draw voting district maps, their impact on power in North Carolina’s political landscape and how new tools are changing the fight against gerrymandering.
Listen to episodes of Monster: Maps, Math & Power in North Carolina below, or subscribe using your favorite podcast app:
Part 1: So you want to make a map...
In the first episode, we explore the rules that govern how maps are supposed to be created once a decade — and why those rules often conflict. That friction is a prime reason why North Carolina sits center stage during battles over gerrymandering.
Part 2: What gerrymandering isn’t
In the second episode, we examine why defining gerrymandering is harder than it appears. Bizarre shapes don’t always translate to political shenanigans. And some of our own choices — about who we are and where we live — can complicate the picture.
Part 3: Math on the front lines
In the third episode, we dive deep into the math that could be key to quantifying and curbing gerrymandering. Some of that math dates back to secret U.S. atomic bomb labs. And although complex, its inner workings are built on some familiar ideas.
Part 4: Making NC maps in 2021
In the final episode, we unravel the politics of mapmaking in 2021, the potential for reform and how the choices state legislators make will impact the legal fight over district lines for years.
More coverage from the N&O politics team
As redistricting kicks off in NC, here’s what we’ve seen so far and what’s still to come
With new redistricting maps in place, will NC’s 1 million Latinos get more attention?
Latino residents driving NC’s population growth. Will new political maps split them up?
With NC political maps about to be drawn, some lawmakers are leaving. Why it matters.
Will NC’s population growth help Republicans or Democrats? What Census data shows
- NC lawmakers will not use racial and election data from the census to draw district maps
Many NC congressional districts are overpopulated. Here’s a look before redistricting
The impact of NC gerrymandering: Dividing races, cities and a campus
This story was originally published September 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM.