State of North Carolina Wake County Before the State
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IN RE CLARK 1 of 124 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA WAKE COUNTY BEFORE THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS ) ) IN THE MATTER OF: APPEAL OF RECORD ON APPEAL ) CHALLENGE TO CANDIDACY OF ASSEMBLED BY ) BEN CLARK STATE BOARD STAFF ) ) Complaint by Petitioners……………………………………………………………… 2 Order of the Panel Duly Appointed by the N.C. State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement…………………………... 15 Appeal of Panel Decision on Challenge to Candidacy………………………………... 19 Exhibits………………………………………………………………………………... 21 Transcript of Hearing…………………………......……………………………….…... 56 IN RE CLARK 2 of 124 Affidavit By rcmmnnblc.mtspicinn and hdid� Ben Clark docs not meet the .stahltory and coustitutionnl qtH1lificalii.:H1s for the onicc of NC State Senate District 21 because he docs not reside in the disli'ict. 8en Clark built a 4 bed room 3 bath house on 3.63 acres of land in Fnyettevile, North Cnrolimt nnd on August z4t\ 2017, the North Carolina State Scnu!e Redistricting Committee amended Senate District 2 lnt the n:::qucst of Ben Clark. ''The contmittce, incll!ding Clark, voted unanimolisly lo mid a wedg�d-.shnpcd pcninsuln to Scnutc 21 lhat rnm:, nearly 5 miles.along N.C. 24 from the Cape Fcnr River to Bnywood Road emH oflntc1'sl(lte 95, This includes Clurk1s new house near the Interstate 95 interchange nt. N.C. 24." -Fayetteville Observer 8/27/2017 The NCO/\ latter approvedthis uew map. It was oflheir beliefthut Ben Clark was going to reside in his new home in that district, and th.it is ·why Ben Clark requested to add this wedge sbupcd peninsulil to include his home, Bm,ed m\ tI1c votes of the NCGA und Sen. Clurk himself, it is renson11blc.10 believe that Sen. Clark and his family intend to reside in this home for tbe upcoming election cycle; and it is the contention of this challenge thm he has given op his previOl!S address as his primary residence. Since his new home is no longer in Senate 21 due to the mling of US District-Comt approving of a disrrict drawn by an np1lointed special master, and confirmetl by the United States Supreme Court, heno longe·r meets the st�tt1Lory and constitutional qualilicalions for the ofiiceof NC Sti1le Senate I)i�trlct 21. The followin-g news stories. are lhrther evidenc� of this fact. hllps://www. w,1sb i 11l.!, ton post .com/ nc ws/wonk/\ vp/20 l 7/08/3 t /Ln ke-a-look -al-onc-o f.. 1hc-cou iltrys-most.. bl ata n1- gerrvnwmlen,/?u tm 1e1T11 "'°,5cc-5 I 45ee301 ht I ps://www .curo I i naj ,rnrnaf. com/ncwHtrlic lc/scm.1l1>co mm i l tec-t1 ppr(1vcs-rcd i st ri et in g-map/ http:/jlanc<1sleror1Hne.com/new_duationa1/north-carol1na-electoral-distr!ct-redrawn-to-inc.!!!Qg-s.�t1te-senator s/artlc!e 19ea5d68·8e5a-11e7-bee8-874865Scdf0a,html h llp ://\--·,'WW.Ca vobscrven:om/opin ion/20 1 7083 I /our-v icw-gcrrvnmmlcri 11!:!tJlU!s-wrong-intercst-ti rst fZ'c f'/!J';; C 1 ,,,,,,<e.P. ,:,,,-��o ___5 ~ll'�M�/�/U�·�-.,·z�L�. .,,.g�· .,,/2:=·==-------------· in.(°.a,/'.½l"..ffY:!"J.a ..1t.!/Pcounly, North Ci1rollna �mkc oath and attest to the above, J 9 _,r;:.:,_WDate'2/ � NOTARY PUBLIC STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF (!//4JU,/8eUAf-l:s> SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO ME ON. rtrl- OF,#AIB.e,f•.. ;)D)Y Signature 'j�'::J-CL:;>./� (Seal) My Commission Expircs {l) __ ,.,(!.,,A:P•'·b...e-,t.___l'' t_? «<o�&��-- IN RE CLARK 3 of 124 •· . .The Washh1gton Post Wonkblog u /\1H!y�;j� Take a lool{at one of· tl1e C(lunt:ry' s 1.nostblatant ge1·rymanders By Christopher fugr,iham i\ugu:;L .31, 2011 A North Carolina state senale district recently sprouted u mystel'lous new appendage thatjusthappcns to encompass a lawmake1·':..second home. 'J'hcextension, and the hip,1rlisau approval it won in the GQl,-lcd state kigislatlll'e, is u classic exarnplc of the backroom dealing that happens when lawmnkers-are allom,tl to draw their own legislative boundaries. A little backgl'Ound: No,'lh Carolina RepuhJicans redrew all of the state's 1cgislative maps in 2.011, following the2010 Ccm;us. Dcmncruts :immediately cried foul, contending thnt the map!-; were drawnwith the e:-pi:esspurpose of solidifyingRepub\ir.::ans' hold on power in tltc i'itntc. Technically speaking, the term fol' tbis is gcnymnndcring- dcliberaldy drawin� lcgislnlive districls in a way that benefits your party(if -yonncetl a bdef visual prit1HW on how it works, read this). In No 1th Carolinu, the specific "issue is r'acfol gcrrymandedng, asDemocrats have alleged Republic:ms intentionallyd!luted Lhe political clout of blacl( vote1•s when they drew the maps. Courts, by and l«rge, have agreed. Earlier lhi11ycur1 a p,tncl of fcdcraljudgt:s lot-1sedoul the 2011 maps and told the legislature to draw new ones Uy Sept. 1. Lawmakers r1;:centlywrapped up theil'new disirict plans and are submitting them to the judges for app1•oval. Cdtics-say the new plans nrejust as rncialiygel'l'y1tmmlered, in tlieir own way,as the old maps·. But',dlow:ing"lcgls!ullil'f.'s lo drnwU1ch- own boundaries invites·imd encmu·nges self-interested behavior among legislators: Republicans and Democrats get togctht:l' lo divvy ttp a state's votet'S with a ptfouny aim of }lrotecting inc11mbc11ts acro!ls the board The.NorthCaroUuu district with the b1·:111d new appundnge-vividly lllustrntes the point. Al issue is the border, in the FayctlHvillu area, between Senate Disldct 21,_ held by Dcmocl'alBen Clark, aml Scnut()District 19, home lo Republicu_n Wesley I\.foredith, The old map, drawn i11 2011, was u spru_wling, nggrcssivdy-gcl'l"_ymandered bc,1sl, with multiple l:enbtcle�extending fr.om Hoke County h1to neighboring Fuyeltevillc. -------�-.----···------------------------------··----·-·-·----·- IN RE CLARK 4 of 124 After courts ordered the distdcts to he redrawn, Clark initially supported a Democ!ratic plm1 that would have drawn a fairly stnnghtforwanl line belwccn tllo two di:.trilits.But the Republican Sltpe1·rnt\im-i1.yM the committee voted down that plan iu fovrn'oi thch· own Jllllp wilh a moi·e convoluted b1mlel'. As he explained in a Facclmok posl, Clark objected to tl1e Republicans' map because it "strips Ft. Bragg and Spring Lake from our district aJJd moves t11em Lo L!)." But there was another proh!el\l with it, too: Clark had 1•ecentlyhuilt a r,econd home in the area, ar:conHng tn the Faycltevil!c Observer, That hnme lay in District 19 of the Republicans' rrtnp, llol C!.u·k's own District 21. ff ClUl'k evet· wanted to make hiS new home his ptimmy residence,he.'d have to nm against Rcpublicun incumbent Wesley Meredith in Disl1-ict19, So Clark prnposedadding an appendage to the new district border that would rcuch out amlcncon1pasi his new home. Below, the Republicans' map is on the.left nnd Clnrk's proposed map is 011thc right. The locations of Clark's liomes me also indicated. 'fhe Republican�lcd collimittce approved Clal'k's new plan ummimottsly. ''The Smmte RctlfstrictingCommittee adoplcdcritefl:i th.at inc1udet.lnvoiding pahfogfocuinbent legis!ators-wben drawing new legislative disb.icts if possillle," said Comntittce-Chnirmn11 Ralph Jlise in mi email. "When the first draft of the Senate map w,ts release_d, Sen. Clark's newuddress was nut known. Sen. Clark offered an an1e11dment to include his home in his district nnd the mncndment pnssed in a unanimous bipnrtisnn vote." Re.ached via email, Clark said that ''ovel' the <.:Ollrseof the legislative process, parties with supermajorities tend to accept only amemlments tha.t they perceive benefittheir intere$tS.'' He added he.would have preforrcc\ flm map imhmitted hy Democrats, which ulso did not include.his second home within its boundaries. Good governanceadvocates argue lawmaker,;:should nul be- able to dm\\1 theil" own legislative districts. "I wish 1 were surprised" by the Clark cxteusion, said Justin Levitt, a redistricting experl at LQyola Law School. He said thal lawmakers drawing diStl'ict l)oUndadcs to include home pm-chases is "not super�common ... but it'Ii also not supeMm\.rn.ual." Usually, Levitt said, purlies in powet' will try to excl11tle opprn>inglawmakers' homes from certain districts to kick them out of office, Sometimes, in.:umbcnts dtnwing districts will even tryto exclude the homes o( prlmmy chnHengers. In 2002, Illinois Democratk ccmgressman Bobby Rush redrew the hot·dcrs ofhis districtto exclude the hCJme of then-stale Sen. Barack Obama, who had challenged him in a primary sevet·:U years-before,But Obama, bytlmt point, was rill'catlybusy t·edrawing his own state senate cUslrict lo set him up helter for a U.S. scnntc nm in 2004. "The system of rcdish·icting in the U.S. tends to nllow representatives to ehoo�e .people instead of people choosing representatives," Obarrrnsaid it1 an intt:rview with the Hydt! ParkHexul_d ln 2tJO�. Thal s1ppean; t_o he cxactlywhilt's going_ on in North Carolina, .. ' ....,_ - -------------- ··- -···----------- ----- ----·-------···· IN RE CLARK 5 of 124 But lawmakers the.l'e.fiercely oppose any uuernpts to take redisb'ictingpower out of their hands. At 1\ redistricting committee me1:ting earlier this month, Hise dismfased the idea of a nonpartisan redistricting conuni&;ionus "mythical." Commissions nre in charge of tlrn rcdiBtticting prnccssin W11:.hinglnn� ld11ho, Al'izmm uncl Californiu. � 92 Comments Christopher Ingraham writes about polit!cs, drug. pollcy and all things data. He previously worl{ed at the Brookings lnstitutloh and tile Pew Research Center. >JiFollow@_cingraham ...... ,, .. .,_, __, ,_~,~·---------- IN RE CLARK 6 of 124 :J/12!2fl1EI Somileco,nmitloo appro\lO>irl!disllicling 111.ip • Carolina Joumal NEWS: QUICK TAKES Senate committee approves redistricting map Dan Way August 24, 2017 ln Quick Takes 8:55PM The Senate Redistricting Committee made a few tweaks to redrawn Senate maps, including an incumbent protection amendnient for a Democrat, but otherwise passed the documents intact.