John, did you see this message last week?
John, I have important news to share: Our effort to stop gerrymandering in North Carolina is going to the United States Supreme Court.
The outcome there could profoundly impact not just this year's district maps, but our right to democracy across the United States for years to come. We need your help to ensure that we’re ready for this fight.
This high-stakes legal battle comes on the heels of our historic victory against discriminatory voting maps in North Carolina – securing a landmark ruling against partisan gerrymandering in the state’s highest court.
But now, the very same far-right legislators who drew those rigged maps – and lost in court – are asking the U.S. Supreme Court for a free pass to gerrymander as much as they like, even if they violate their own state constitutions to do it!
That’s right – after the state’s highest court found they had illegally manipulated election lines, they’re back with an even more brazen power grab – and if we don’t stop them here, the national implications could be utterly devastating.
John – you and I know democracy is under a once-in-a-generation threat, and not just in North Carolina, but everywhere.
Fueled by Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 election, some politicians across the country are showing they’ll do absolutely anything to hold onto power – even if it means overruling voters and trashing our sacred constitutional rights.
The result? Gerrymandered maps like North Carolina’s. Extreme anti-voter laws in places like Georgia and Texas. And most frighteningly of all, direct and violent attempts to overturn elections like we saw on January 6th, 2021 fueled by the Big Lie.
The 2022 midterms will be the first conducted under these new, anti-voter maps and restrictions. And the good news is, Common Cause members like you were instrumental in stopping some of the most egregious examples from going through in many states.
But in far too many key 2022 states, like Florida, Texas, and Georgia, the same lawmakers who pushed dangerous voter suppression laws rushed through rigged maps that will cement their grip on power even further.
One of the most effective ways we’ve stopped these attacks is by securing justice in state courts. That’s how we’ve stopped not just partisan and racial gerrymanders, but anti-voter laws, polling place closures, and even direct attempts at election sabotage.
Now, before the Supreme Court, we’re at risk of losing this crucial tool from our toolkit.
The good news is, their case directly contradicts established Court precedent that dates back to the founding of this country – and we have a top-notch legal team from Southern Coalition for Social Justice and Hogan Lovells – which is why we’re confident that we can argue and win even with the current balance of power.
But if we don’t give it everything we’ve got, we risk losing one of the last – and most important – safeguards we have against the tidal wave of anti-democracy power grabs we’ve seen since 2020.
John, now that our North Carolina case has been taken up by the Supreme Court, it is critically important that we scale up our legal efforts in response.
That’s why I’m coming to you today – in hopes you will provide the necessary resources to fight back against this threat to our democracy with the seriousness and thoroughness it demands. Common Cause’s work is powered by members like you, so I’m counting on you to step up.
With your help, we will FIGHT and WIN our case against North Carolina gerrymandering before the Supreme Court – and in any other state where politicians are silencing voters for their own political benefit. Can you rush your contribution today?
The stakes couldn’t be higher. We must stop the dangerous attempt by politicians to undermine freedoms guaranteed to every one of us.
Together, we will defeat this latest attempt by self-serving politicians to abuse power.
Thanks for all you do,
Kathay Feng, National Redistricting Director
and the team at Common Cause
