WRAL.com: Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville

How it works

The North Carolina General Assembly has 120 House districts and 50 Senate districts. Those districts are legally required to be roughly equal in population, so each member of a chamber will represents about the same number of voters as others in that chamber.

But population changes over time. So every ten years, when the new U.S. Census data is released, state lawmakers have to look at the new numbers and redraw the 170 districts to make them equal again.

The House and Senate each appoint a committee to redraw the maps for their respective chambers. Those committees usually hold public hearings to allow voters to weigh in on the process. Then each chamber files a bill to make the changes into law. Both chambers must approve their own plan and the other's plan. And they also have to agree on a third plan to redraw the state's 13 congressional districts.

The governor does not have veto power over any of these plans, but they must be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice to ensure they don't violate the federal Voting Rights Act, which protects the political power of minority communities.

Why it matters

Redistricting can cause big power shifts in the legislature. For example, Wake County's population has boomed since 2000, so it's expected to pick up one or two state Senate seats. That means current Wake seats will have to be redrawn to make room for the new ones. Meantime, areas that have lost population will find themselves lumped into larger districts to keep the numbers equal. Some lawmakers will likely lose their districts entirely.

Even in areas that haven't seen big population changes, districts can still be redrawn for political reasons. Both parties try to tailor as many "safe" districts as they can, cutting down on the number of "swing districts" where elections can be hard-fought and expensive. The party in power always has the upper hand in tailoring the new maps. This year, it'll be the Republicans.

Most lawmakers want to be assigned to the Redistricting committee - it's a politically powerful position that increases their clout on other issues. Members of the committee fight to protect their party's existing seats and pick up new ones where they can.

What to watch

The map above shows who's been named to the committees this year, and where they're from. The distribution can tell us a lot about likely strategy.

For example, Republicans named no members from the northeastern corner of the state or from Fayetteville, so they're probably not looking to pick up seats in those largely Democratic areas. But in the Triad, there's just one Democrat and quite a few Republicans, so the leaders are likely hoping to make some gains there.