THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996 TAG: 9607310418
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 50 lines
The decision of three federal judges not to rush into redrawing the 12th Congressional District in time for this November's elections was praised Tuesday by Rep. Eva M. Clayton, D-Warren, one of two African Americans elected to Congress after North Carolina's historic 1992 redistricting.
``This will allow the legislature to carefully consider new congressional boundaries; to hold hearings on any proposals that might be offered, and to give the public an opportunity to participate in the process. . . . I applaud the judges,'' Clayton said in Washington.
The federal tribunal ruled in Raleigh that the 12th Congressional District, which the U.S. Supreme Court called unconstitutional in June, would have to be reapportioned by the General Assembly by April 1997 or the federal court would do the redrawing.
Clayton's 1st Congressional District in eastern North Carolina received most of the publicity - and little opposition - when the General Assembly began redrawing all of North Carolina's U.S. House voting areas in 1992. Clayton's 1st District stretches, in the words of one legislator, ``like a Rorschach blot'' from the Virginia border to the South Carolina line.
But early on, it was clear that the serpentine 12th District, which closely followed Interstate 85 between Durham and Charlotte, would be the target of Republican challenges to the black-majority districts.
Both of the two new congressional districts had black voter majorities as directed by U.S. civil rights guidelines. But to establish the minority districts, it was necessary to juggle white and black voter populations in each of the other 10 U.S. House districts in North Carolina.
The 1st District was relatively easy to form because of the number of black voters who were already residing in areas that became the new district.
But when it came to the 12th District, it was necessary to use the I-85 right-of-way to link minority populations along the industrial corridor between Charlotte and Durham.
``The deliberative process the (three federal) judges have provided for will best ensure, in the end, that citizens know where to vote and for whom to vote. Any other process would have encouraged confusion,'' Clayton said.
Meanwhile, Lisbeth C. Evans, chairwoman of the North Carolina State Democratic Party, agreed with Rep. Clayton.
``The timetable the court has laid out will ensure that the redistricting process will be orderly and fair to voters and candidates,'' Evans said in Raleigh. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Eva Clayton by CNB