|
348
<br />
<br /> WHEREAS, the North Carolina General Assembly has ratified
<br />House Bill 1303 as Chapter 675 of the 1991 Session Laws, 'to re-
<br />establish district lines for the North Carolina House of
<br />Representatives reflecting the results of the 1990 census as
<br />required for reapportionment by the United States Constitution; and
<br /> WHEREAS, said legislation was introduced by Representative Sam
<br />Hunt, Co-Chair of the House Committee on Redistricting, late in the
<br />1991 legislative session, without consulting elected officials or
<br />other leaders in Cabarrus County or elsewhere, which late
<br />introduction precluded effective debate or protest of such
<br />legislation; and
<br /> WHEREAS, after such late introduction, Representative Hunt
<br />refused to amend his plan as requested by local leadership and by
<br />fellow members of the North Carolina House; and
<br /> WHEREAS, Cabarrus County has heretofore been paired with Union
<br />and Stanly Counties in the four-member, multi-seat House District
<br />No. 34 for at least ten (10) years; and
<br /> WHEREAS, the base population level for reapportionment of
<br />House Districts in North Carolina is 56,000, and according to the
<br />U. S. Department of Commerce 1990 Uncorrected Census, Cabarrus
<br />County has a population of 98,935, Stanly County of 51,765, and
<br />Union County of 84,211; and
<br /> WHEREAS, Cabarrus County, like most counties, comprises a
<br />largely homogeneous citizenry with similar interests and concerns,
<br />but unlike many counties, is divided for House redistricting
<br />purposes which constitutes a willful and especial disregard for the
<br />rights of the citizens of Cabarrus County; and
<br /> WHEREAS, the Legislation, as finally approved, trisects
<br />Cabarrus County as follows: (1) combining Township 8 (Mt. Pleasant)
<br />primarily with Stanly County; (2) comb£ning the western and southern
<br />precincts of Cabarrus County, including the Town of Harrisburg, with
<br />Union County; and (3) combining most, but not all of, the Cities of
<br />Concord and Kannapolis (omitting the Beverly Hills Precinct of
<br />Concord, but including a portion of Township 2); and
<br /> WHEREAS, these districts, as created by the Legislature, lack
<br />the required degree of compactness and mutual or common interest
<br />necessary such that those persons living in said districts suffer
<br />diminution of voting strength; and
<br /> WHEREAS, it is in the best interests of the citizens of
<br />Cabarrus County that the county remain largely intact as a two-
<br />single member voting units with the division made peripherally
<br />whereby Cabarrus County precincts are joined with an adjacent and
<br />neighboring county sharing common interests such that compactness
<br />and continuity are preserved or that the county become a two-member
<br />unit with related characteristics; and
<br /> WHEREAS, said House redistricting legislation is generally
<br />perceived in Cabarrus County as a calculated attempt to deprive
<br />Cabarrus County citizens of representation in the North Carolina
<br />House of Representatives while creating, in effect, "pocket election
<br />boroughs" to either eliminate or protect specific incumbent
<br />representatives, and nominal rather than actual representation of
<br />the citizens of Cabarrus County; and
<br /> WHEREAS, said House redistricting legislation, by splitting
<br />House representation in Cabarrus County, will undermine many years
<br />of work by thousands of county citizens to unify Cabarrus County
<br />politically, economically and socially, in the face of traditional
<br />political divisions fostered by geographic and economic factors; and
<br />by further splintering rather than unifying Cabarrus County, will
<br />undermine specific efforts to recruit new industry, promote
<br />educational improvements, and generally enhance the lives of the
<br />people of Cabarrus County, until the next reapportionment in the
<br />year 2001, by which time the area's lack of potential representation
<br />in the House may result in permanent damage to local economic
<br />development; and
<br /> WHEREAS, said House redistricting legislation will have the
<br />effect of substantially diluting the right to vote for candidates
<br />for the'North Carolina House of Representatives on the part of the
<br />citizens of Cabarrus County, in violation of the Equal Protection
<br />Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution
<br />and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and
<br />
<br />
<br />
|