美国国家公共电台 NPR North Carolina Gerrymandering Trial Could Serve As Blueprint For Other States

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

The fight over partisan¹ gerrymandering continues today when a trial starts in North Carolina. Less than a month ago, you'll remember, the U.S. Supreme² Court ruled that federal courts cannot decide these partisan redistricting cases. On the line now, Jeff Tiberii - he's the Capitol bureau chief of member station WUNC in Chapel³ Hill.

And Jeff, North Carolina is a complicated place. There have been several legal challenges to various political maps there. What's at issue in this case?

JEFF TIBERII, BYLINE⁴: Yeah, this is one of the most litigated states in the country when it comes to redistricting. And that goes back decades - Republican rule now, but previously⁵ Democratic rule for a long time. And the Republicans here have repeatedly drawn⁶ maps that unsurprisingly favor the GOP, even though this is very much a 50-50 state politically in many respects. Overall, when we think about the midterms last year, Democratic candidates at the state level actually won more overall votes but fewer seats.

So this case follows a previous set of maps that were passed by Republicans coming out of the 2010 census⁷ that were rejected by the courts as a racial gerrymander. State lawmakers redrew in the legislative⁸ districts and established Republican majorities again. They contend, the Republicans, that they looked at a number of criteria⁹ when they did that process within the last couple of years, but the plaintiffs say it was primarily about party affiliation¹⁰. Those plaintiffs are suing. They say that by having set up the political boundaries in this way, Republicans are violating the state constitution, specifically the right to a free and fair election.

Now if - and it is a significant if - Republicans win, that - or pardon me. If the plaintiffs win, that could put the North Carolina legislature in play next year during in the 2020 election, which is also significant because the next round of redistricting, of course, takes place in 2021.

KING: So Jeff, the Supreme Court says this is not the job of federal courts to resolve these disputes. Do you think this case in North Carolina could serve as a kind of blueprint¹¹ for other states that want to revisit partisan gerrymandering in court?

TIBERII: It does seem like that is a distinct possibility. And we saw this in Pennsylvania last year, where the challenge went through state court. Ultimately, the state Supreme Court there struck down congressional maps. And what we've heard from experts is that state constitutions provide what they say is a little bit better of an opportunity to challenge redistricting - challenge gerrymanders on the partisan basis because oftentimes constitutions are a little more broad and robust¹² when it comes to protecting voting rights when compared - as compared with the federal Constitution.

KING: All right. So what do we expect from this trial?

TIBERII: Expectation is that's going to last about two weeks. There will be fighting over admissibility of evidence and case law. Whatever the outcome is here, it's certain that it will be appealed to the state Supreme Court. At the state Supreme Court level, there are now six Democratic judges and one Republican justice. And I think the initial expectation is that there is a chance that these maps will be struck down because they've given the GOP such an advantage over the past few years. But at the same time, that said, everybody who I've spoken with has said, let's also be cautious. Let's tap the brakes a little bit here because nobody knows, at this point, how the judges are going to rule.

KING: Jeff Tiberii of member station WUNC in Chapel Hill. Thanks so much, Jeff.

TIBERII: You're welcome.

1 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

8 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

9 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

10 affiliation   

n.联系，联合

参考例句：

• There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似，但我们之间并没有关系。
• The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。

11 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

12 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。