U.S. Senator Kay R. Hagan (NC) commented today following the U.S. Department of Justice's Section 5 review of the North Carolina General Assembly.

"The courts will now review the truly troubling aspects of the General Assembly's redistricting plans,” said Hagan.  “The General Assembly may be entitled to consider its narrow partisan goals when redrawing the North Carolina House, the North Carolina Senate and the U.S. Congressional district maps, but not at the expense of North Carolina moderation and common sense.  Extreme precinct-splitting makes no sense in drawing the state's House and Senate districts and extreme county-reconfiguring makes no sense in drawing the state's U.S. Congressional districts.  It is little wonder that thousands of North Carolina voters were left off the new maps entirely.  Nor should the General Assembly be permitted to pursue its narrow partisan goals at the expense of equal protection of the law by packing most of North Carolina’s African-American citizens into a very few districts.  I believe the North Carolina General Assembly is overreaching.  This latest flight from moderation should trouble North Carolinians of all political persuasions.”