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the chronicle
Volume43,Number23 -WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. j THURSDAY, February 11, 2016
N.C. awaits appeal over districts
BY 1UDD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
It's more election uncertainty, as
a federal court ruled that two con
gressional districts, one of which
includes a part of Winston-Salem,
were racially gerrymandered and
needed to be redrawn before elec
tions are held for either seat. .
North Carolina appealed the case
with a motion to stay the decision.
That stay was rejected Tuesday, so
now the petition will move to the U 5
.Supreme Court.
The two districts are the 1st
District, represented by G.K.
Butterfield, and the 12th District,
represented by Alma Adams, both
black Democrats. The 12th includes
part of Winston-Salem.
The three judge panel ruled
Friday, Feb. 5, that the districts were
redrawn in 2011 to pack minority
voters into districts that already were
heavily minority, lessening their vot
ing power in the rest of the state in
violation of the Equal Protection
Claus of the U.S. Constitution.
While courts allow districts to be
wrrvmandered for
partisan advantage, ?
race is not supposed to
play a factor. The
court has ordered the I
districts redrawn by l
Feb. 19. This will I
require the governor |
to call the General
Assemblv back for a
special session and any redrawn dis
tricts would on$e again have to be
approved by the U.S. Justice
Department.
The primary is March 15 and
absentee voting has already begun.
More than 8,600 absentee ballots
have been sent out by the state Board
of Elections. As of last Friday, the
state BOE had already received more
then 400 completed absentee ballots
and is encouraging people to fill out
the entire absentee ballot, despite the
linr^rtaintv
C^PAIGN^
In a statement. Sen.
Bob Rucho and Rep.
David Lewis, the
Republican chairs of
the House and Senate
Redistricting
Committees, said
because of the ruling,
voters no lonoer know
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when the primary election will be
and absentee ballots could be tossed
out.
"We are confident our state
Supreme Court made the right deci
sion when it upheld the maps drawn
See Districts on A8
__^_l
1
Photo by Timothy Ramv>
Avery B. Hall Sr. of Winston-Salem accepts his Rhythms of Triumph award for his work in the community.
%
Local banker gains award
for community leadership
BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY
FOR THE CHRONICLE
Many national figures are honored for their contribu
tions to the community but those on the local level some
times do not receive their just due.
In honor of local leaders, the McDonald's owners of
the Triad led by notable community leader and
McDonald's owner James "Smitty" Smith and his son
Adrian, along with Entercom Radio, held the Rhythms of
Triumph awards on Saturday, Feb. 6, at the Greensboro
Coliseum.
Three awardees were selected from Greensboro,
Winston Salem and High Point.
The Winston-Salem nominee was Avery B. Hall Sr.,
who is senior vice president and business banking manag
er at Wells Fargo and former All-American football player
at Appalachian State University. Hall is also a member of
the Rotary Club of Kernersville, Phi Beta Sigma
Fraternity, and Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist
Church.
When asked what this award meant to him Hall said,
"It means a lot because to be recognized for the things you
do in the community is an honor and a pleasure. Also to be
See Award on A2
W-S NAACP
heads to Moral
March rally
on Saturday
v.; ~
BYfcASH MICHAELS
HOfTlffiWCBPA '
The political stage is set for this Saturday's 10th annu
al Moral March in Raleigh/HK on J People's Assembly,
kicking off at 8:30 a.m. with a pre-march rally at 2 East
South Street near Shaw University in g|H|
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down the Fayetteville Street Mall to
the steps of the State Capitol kicking
off at 10 a.m.
It is called the "Get Out The Vote
Gathering and Mobilization," spon
sored by the N.C. NAACP and the
Forward Together Movement. The
People's Assembly at the Capitol will
end at 12:30 p.m. Rev Barber
The Winston-Salem Branch of the
NAACP will be headed to the march.
The organization will be traveling by bus with other local
residents. Members will take part in the activities, includ
ing get-out-the-vote training. The organization has been
mobilizing in Winston-Salem, along with its partners - the
Voting Rights Coalition, Ministers' Conference of
Winston-Salem and Vicinity and others - to get commit
tees in place for the 2016 elections.
At the assembly, there will be voter registration
for the tentative March 15 primaries (tentative thanks to a
federal appeals court ruling last Friday throwing out redis
tricting maps for the 1st and 12th Congressional Districts,
and ordering that they be redrawn within the next two
weeks. Winston-Salem is in the 12th District).
Following the Moral March on Raleigh, there
will be a Souls to the Polls training about how faith com
munities can register, educate, and mobilize their congre
gations and communities to the polls.
On Friday evening, Feb. 12, there will be a pre
Moral March/People's Assembly mass meeting and wor
ship service, featuring Rabbi Fred Guttman, starting at 7
p.m. at First Baptist Church, 101 S. Wilmington Street in
Raleigh.
The agenda, as always, for the Moral March,
includes the expansion and protection of voting rights;
See March on A2
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