Moore County’s legislative delegation will return to Raleigh Monday to vote on corrected redistricting maps.

New districting maps adopted earlier this year have been precleared by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, but issues remain, including problems with some district lines and the threat of lawsuits by diverse groups.

State Rep. Jamie Boles, a Republican who represents most of Moore County, does not think that any of the questioned district boundaries should affect Moore County. He is a member of the House Redistricting Committee.

“It’s just a case of technical and human errors,” he said. “The maps are fine. The lines are fine. The precincts are fine.”

Under the changes, Moore County will move from the 2nd Congressional District, represented by U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, to the 2nd District, represented by U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers. Both are Republicans.

The county will move from state Senate District 22 to the 29th District, encompassing all of Moore County and a large section of Randolph County. Incumbent Sen. Harris Blake, a Pinehurst Republican, announced earlier that he will not seek re-election, clearing the way for fellow Republican Jerry Tillman to run for the seat unopposed by another incumbent.

Boles’ District 52 remains intact, except for a north-central swath of the county, including Carthage, High Falls and Glendon. Those precincts move into District 78, now served by Rep. Harold Brubaker, of Asheboro. Both are Republicans.

Boles said the errors stem largely from glitches in data entered into the computer system used to develop district lines in accordance with census population blocks and should be easily corrected.

Preliminary reports indicated that about 1,000 voters across the state are affected. However, these voters are scattered across 52 of the 120 House districts, 24 of the 50 Senate districts and some of the 13 congressional districts.

“It’s pretty much a done deal,” Blake said, whose current District 22 encompasses Moore and Harnett counties. He was referring to approval of the new district boundaries.

At first, legislative leaders thought an official vote on corrected district lines would not be needed, but word was received Thursday indicating that both chambers would be expected to take a vote on Monday — and probably again on Tuesday.

Boles was advised by email Thursday that a recorded vote on the technical correction of district lines would be taken when the General Assembly convenes at noon Monday. The information came from both House Majority Leader Paul Stam and House Speaker Thom Tillis.

Under legislative rules, three votes are required on all actions, and if objections are raised, at least one of the votes must be taken a day later. In this case, the minority Democrats in both houses are expected to raise objections, moving the final vote into Tuesday.

‘Still in Long Session’

The original plan for the Monday session called for the legislature to move in and move out within a matter of minutes, probably with no more than a skeleton representation present to make actions official.

The reason for the Nov. 7 session was described as largely a matter of legal protocol, because the General Assembly was never officially adjourned. Two special sessions were held after the legislature adopted a budget and closed up shop at the end of June.

“Technically, we’re still in the long session, and we need to act on adjournment and call for us to reconvene for the short (budget) session in May,” Boles said.

The agenda does not include any votes to override the remaining vetoes by Gov. Beverly Perdue earlier in the session. Some of those vetoes were overridden at previous sessions.

Even with both chambers back in full session Monday, attendance is likely to be skimpy. Boles said he knows of several House members who are out of the country and cannot be present Monday and understands there are similar absences in the Senate.

Republicans had reason to be elated over news about the federal preclearance of district boundaries, designed to assure GOP dominance of the legislature and Congress for the next 10 years.

This is the first time in more than a century that Republicans have controlled both state legislative chambers. Redistricting is a constitutional requirement after each decennial population census.

Justice Department approval is required before redistricting takes effect in North Carolina as a result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, passed to protect the voting rights of minorities. Moore County is not among the counties affected by the federal law as it pertains to the state. However, the boundaries of adjacent districts can affect Moore County.

‘Fair, Legal’

Sen. Bob Rucho, a Republican from Mecklenburg County, and Rep. David Lewis, a Republican from Harnett County, who chaired redistricting committees in their respective chambers, issued a joint statement expressing satisfaction with the preclearance.

“The Obama Justice Department’s stamp of approval on our redistricting plans confirms what we’ve said all along: These are fair and legal maps that give a strong voice to all voters. It also should silence the racially charged rhetoric and put to rest the baseless claim that these maps were somehow discriminatory,” the joint statement said.

“Today’s historic decision by the Obama Justice Department, after thorough review by Attorney General Eric Holder, proves that we followed the letter and intent of the law in protecting the voting rights of minorities.”

The “historic” reference reflects timing. This is the first time in 30 years that all three plans — state House, state Senate and Congress — have been precleared by the Justice Department within the initial 60-day review period, according to Rucho and Lewis.

‘Redistricting Failure’

The Democratic opposition immediately responded with a statement calling the situation a “redistricting failure.”

House Minority Leader Joe Hackney, an Orange County Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt, a Buncombe County Democrat, issued a statement charging that the GOP leadership designed the new districts to confuse voters by separating them by race.

“They have already succeeded,” Hackney and Nesbitt said in the joint statement. “In their rush to desegregate communities and pull apart neighborhoods with their redistricting plans, we have now learned that they neglected to account for thousands of people. Their plan to split voting precincts proved too complicated even for their outside experts and sophisticated software to handle properly.”

Rucho defended the redistricting maps and said the Democrats’ charges were turning a staff mistake into a political issue. In a memorandum to the legislative staff, he said the software code flaw has been identified and corrected.

Also not pleased with the new districts are several independent organizations expected to file suit against the legislature.

Thus far, plaintiffs on record to join the litigation include the NAACP, Democracy North Carolina, the Coalition for Social Justice, the A. Philip Randolph Institute and the League of Women Voters of North Carolina.

Cited among their reasons are charges that the district lines do not comply with the state constitution requirement that district lines be contiguous. They further argue that Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act contains a narrow legal standard and cite other more comprehensive legal standards that cover equal protection rights for all voters in North Carolina.

Contact Florence Gilkeson at florence@thepilot.com.