A group of voters filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina Thursday, challenging the Watauga County Board of Elections and two Senate bills passed by the North Carolina General Assembly.
The challenge is against Senate Bill 759 and Senate Bill 912, which the complaint reads are discriminatory against voters in districts one and two of Watauga County — districts that are heavily composed of App State’s student population.
“We believe that everyone, regardless of party affiliation or no affiliation, deserves equal representation with the law,” said Pam Williamson, a plaintiff of the case and member of the Watauga County Voting Rights Task Force.
SB 759 was introduced by North Carolina Sen. Ralph Hise in October 2023 and changed the structure of the Watauga County Board of Commissioners election map. The complaint alleges the bill created a heavily gerrymandered map, meaning the voting map is structured in favor of one political party — in this case, the Republican Party.
SB 759 replaced the old election system, which had been established for nearly half a century, according to the complaint. The system prior to SB 759 consisted of five Watauga County Commission members who were elected countywide.
The new system established five electoral districts for the Commission in which one member would be elected for each district by its residents in staggered elections. Only people who lived in the respective voting district could vote for their representative.
The new districts, which will be established in 2032, are not based on population or location and are uneven in size and number, according to the complaint.
“Some voters are favored and some are disfavored under that map,” said Stella Anderson, a member of the task force.
Voters in Watauga County voted on a referendum that would change SB 759’s map into one drawn locally by the board of commissioners. 71% of voters agreed to the locally drawn map in favor of the senate made one; however, Hise blocked the referendum preemptively in Senate Bill 912 until 2034 — two years after the new map would be instated.
The lawsuit and complaint were filed in response to the blockage and the allegedly gerrymandered map.
“Watauga County residents voted to adopt fair districts while rejecting the gerrymandered maps imposed on us by the legislature,” wrote Ray Russell, a plaintiff in the case and a former Watauga County Commissioner, in a press release. “We’re filing this lawsuit to protect our mountain community against the unconstitutional overreach by politicians in Raleigh.”
The plaintiffs — the people who filed the complaint — consist of two voting rights groups alongside local voters. Those groups are the task force and Common Cause.
The task force is a nonpartisan volunteer organization that advocates for voting rights and encourages people to vote by registering them and providing accessibility. They have been active since 2014, and they are “committed to ensuring that voting is accessible to every eligible voter who wishes to participate in our democracy and that the votes of all eligible voters are counted,” according to the complaint.
Common Cause is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that advocates for North Carolina voters.
“Common Cause is a grassroots organization dedicated to empowering all people in North Carolina to make their voices heard in the political process,” reads the complaint.
The defendants in this case are the Watauga County Board of Elections and five members from the board.
Following a complaint, the defendant must file an answer addressing each claim against them. The board declined to comment on how it will proceed.
“If Watauga County can be treated this way, so can any other county,” Williamson said. “And I hope this not only sends a message to the state Legislature but also to all the other counties there that they don’t have to take this.”
