January 14, 2022
Following an expedited three-day trial on the constitutionality of North Carolina’s new state legislative and congressional district maps, a panel of superior court judges unanimously ruled that the new maps will stand and are within the bounds of the state’s constitution.
Three separate lawsuits were filed against the maps last year in response to Republicans having a significant partisan advantage in districts for the U.S. House of Representatives, the N.C. House of Representatives and the N.C. Senate. The lawsuits were bundled together into one case in the interest of time and were heard before the state superior court last week. The panel’s decision acknowledged evidence of partisan gerrymandering and said the maps were products of intentional, pro-Republican partisan redistricting. However, they wrote that the plaintiffs did not show sufficient proof of racial motives behind the Republican-led map-drawing process and that drawing boundaries for partisan advantage is not forbidden under state law.
The challengers immediately announced that they plan to appeal the ruling and the case is expected to go before the N.C. Supreme Court in the coming weeks. Following this week’s ruling, the State Board of Elections announced they will begin preparing for the continuation of the candidate filing period for N.C.’s 2022 primary elections, as well as rescheduled municipal elections. Barring judicial action, candidate filing will resume at 8 am on Thursday, February 24th and concludes at noon on Friday, March 4th. Last month the N.C. Supreme Court ordered a delay of the March 8th primary election to May 22nd and indefinitely suspended the candidate filing period to allow the court to consider the legality of the new district maps.