The districts are being squeezed to put DEMS and a lot of people of color into the SAME district, so although they may vote, they wait longer or can't access polling boxes (Georgia law removed many for mid-term turnout).
WATCH from Map to Map how the BLUE shrinks
2014 Map
https://www.wunc.org/politics/2017-06-19/scotus-partisan-gerrymander-decision-will-impact-north-carolina
SCOTUS' Partisan Gerrymander Decision Will Impact North Carolina
Already, federal courts have determined that Republican North Carolina lawmakers drew voting districts that are racially gerrymandered, which the Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional.
However, the highest court has never ruled against gerrymandering districts purely for partisan gain.
2018 Map
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/29/us/politics/north-carolina-gerrymandering.html
Democrats in North Carolina earned 48.3 percent of the total vote cast in House races but appeared to win only three seats; Republicans had 50.4 percent of the vote and won at least nine seats.
2020 Map
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/11/9/22765982/north-carolina-redistricting-gerrymandering-2021-2022
North Carolinas extreme new gerrymander, explained
New election maps passed into law could be worse for Democrats than their recent loss in Virginia.
In a state split nearly evenly between Republicans and Democrats Trump won it in 2020 with 49.9 percent of the vote the new map of districts for House elections would likely give the GOP at least 10 House seats out of 14 (71 percent). North Carolina law does not allow Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to veto the maps, which means they will be used in 2022 unless courts intervene.
The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, an academic group that grades political maps based on a set of mathematical metrics of fairness, gave the North Carolina map an F for extreme partisan bias marking it as one of the very worst proposals anywhere in the country. Two separate analyses, from a Duke University professor and the Campaign Legal Center, also found that the map was unusually tilted in the GOPs direction.
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/iomt2r2zEUfCcwXIQ39uPVe9lQo=/1400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22999521/xxWi9_north_carolina_s_new_house_map_for_2022_br_favors_republicans_even_more.png
BUT THE ACTUAL 2022 MAP HAS BETTER GRADES - Except for Competetiveness????
https://gerrymander.princeton.edu/redistricting-report-card?planId=recLnbOX0HgTlcdAK
Overall Grade
B
Partisan Fairness
B
Advantages incumbents
Competitiveness
F
Very uncompetitive relative to other maps that could have been drawn
Geographic Features
C
Compact districts, typical number of county splits
A: Good for the category
B: Better than average for the category, but bias still exists
C: Average for the category, could be better, but also could be worse
F: Poor for the category, could be much better