My first newsletter recounted a particularly interesting moment at a recent State Board of Elections meeting, as well as a mayor who really didn't want to be elected.

But...NC kinda started all of this.

A 2016 case attempting to strike down NC maps as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders didn't go exactly as hoped.

While the U.S. Supreme Court didn't exactly legalize partisan gerrymandering, they said they couldn't do anything about it.

People I spoke to seemed fairly confident that North Carolina wouldn't throw its hat in the ring — after all, state Republican leaders have probably already drawn maximally advantageous maps.

An excerpt looking at one of these factors — an emphasis on STEM education.

Additionally, what civics exists may not be as effective as it should be.

In fact, civics has been broken for decades at this point, according to research by Duke professor Sunshine Hillygus.

Why does this matter?

Students whose families are engaged might be just fine without thorough civic education — they'll learn it at home and in their communities.

But for many, school is the main or only place they'll learn why their voice matters and how to use it.

3. The largest group. Over 60k voters whose voter registration record doesn't include a driver's license or the last four digits of their social security number.

It's a bit complex, so here's a brief review from previous coverage. carolinapublicpress.org/67453/state-...

Exit polling data can’t tell us everything with a high level of precision (we’ll have to wait for the massive voter history data to publish in December for that), but it can give us some idea of who showed up, who didn’t and why.

Read the story to find out, but in the meantime, here are some maps!