Redistricting -- and the Criteria

Misconceptions about Redistricting: What Are the Stephenson Criteria?

by Jim Stirling

Research Fellow, John Locke Foundation

October 17, 2023

The North Carolina General Assembly is expected to have its new legislative and congressional maps ready this week.  The 2022 interim congressional map was always expected to be redrawn this year, as the court-drawn maps are only to be used for one election cycle.  The redrawing of legislative maps only came about after the decision earlier this year on Harper v. Hall III, which threw out the court’s original ruling on Harper I.

Much like the 2021 redistricting processes, there is significant misinformation and false narratives in the map drawing process.  The loudest of these narratives has been that “North Carolina is a 50/50 state” and then using that narrative to argue that our legislature should be made to represent that even divide.

There are two problems with that argument.  The first is that, while North Carolina is a relatively competitive state, it is not evenly divided politically.  Republicans have had a persistent advantage in voter support over the past decade, which has allowed them to win over 60 percent of statewide races over that time period.

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https://www.johnlocke.org/misconceptions-about-redistricting-what-are-the-stephenson-criteria/