NORTH CAROLINA: Federal Court Again Tosses Racist Districts Map, Orders No US House Elections Until Fixed

Raleigh’s NBC affiliate reports:

A panel of three federal judges has ordered the state to redraw its congressional map again, forbidding North Carolina from holding this year’s scheduled U.S. House elections until it does. In doing so the court ruled that state legislators, seeking to address a racial gerrymander the court complained about with a previous map, put too much partisan intent into their redraw, unfairly seeking to lock in Republican gains and violating people’s right to choose their own representatives.

The court not only ordered the General Assembly to redraw districts over the next two weeks, it said it would appoint a special master to rework maps on a parallel track. With filing in congressional races slated to begin February 12, time is of the essence, the court said. A spokeswoman for state Senate leadership said the case would be appealed. That would kick the issue up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard arguments on a similar case out of Wisconsin in October but has not yet ruled on this question.

Only three of North Carolina’s 13 US House seats are currently held by Democrats.