Editorial: Too many times in courtrooms, but expectation is more of same

Like watching kids with blocks, or perhaps those Hot Wheels tracks with loops, we’re just waiting for everything to come to a crashing halt.

In a courtroom, of course. That’s where everything related to redistricting maps has been for almost half a century.

North Carolina hasn’t had a complete set of the maps, congressional or state, last an entire 10 years between censuses for the last 40 years. Fifty is all but guaranteed.

The decennial process is ongoing. Monday and today, public hearings were scheduled for places in person, and on the internet of the virtual variety. The legislature in Raleigh, the body in charge of this process that cannot get a veto thump by the governor, hopes in November to enact new maps based on the latest 2020 census.

If we make it to December without a court challenge, it’ll be amazing.

That the maps “live” from census to census, getting updated based on population changes, is a good thing. That the law provides for who gets to do them is also fine.

Democrats controlled the General Assembly from Reconstruction after the Civil War until 2010, and did more than their share of gerrymandering districts to help the blue cause. Republicans, in the decade since, have done the same for the reds. And both have been taken to court by multiple entities in the name of fairness.

This time, the GOP leaders say, they’re not using data about the race of the voters, or partisan data about the voters to draw the lines. In addition to that, the process has been more transparent than ever.

Keep in mind, that doesn’t necessarily mean the map lines don’t favor the Grand Old Party. And, too, don’t think for an instant those seemingly excellent baselines will satisfy Democrats. They won’t.

The only thing that will satisfy either party — take this to the bank — is for the maps to favor their respective party.

“It’s truly a conundrum and has been for the last decade for the GOP, because when we look at race, we were told we shouldn’t have, and those maps were struck down. Now that we’re not looking at race, the Democrat Party is telling us, ‘Oh, you should be looking at race,’” Sen. Paul Newton, a Republican, said of the court’s action. He’s co-chairman of the committee in charge of drawing the maps.

On Oct. 1, Democrats’ periodic newsletter pointed out, “North Carolinians know that historically maps have been drawn behind closed doors with consultants and they’re demanding something different. The Democratic Party stands in solidarity with those across the state calling for a more transparent process and additional public hearings after the maps are released.”

That memo was after it was known the actual drawing could be watched via the internet. And that there would be public hearings after they were drawn.

We’re not picking on the Democrats, mind you. To wit, the GOP’s initial maps — political experts say — show boundaries favoring about a 10-4 advantage for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Both parties, we assure, just want to have the edge.

History has shown, however, that the edge on a map doesn’t necessarily translate to the ballot box. After all, the GOP did historically flip 140 years in 2010.

Maps help, but they won’t make politicians unbeatable at the polls.

Courtrooms maybe. And we’ve seen too much of that for far too long.