North Carolina Ordered to Redraw Congressional Maps for 2020 Election
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD
North Carolina can’t use its current maps for its 2020 congressional elections, a panel of judges ruled Monday, saying the Republican-drawn maps are unfair to many voters. The legislature must now redraw the state’s 13 U.S. House districts for the second time in three years. The judges, two Democrats and one Republican from different parts of North Carolina, wrote that the maps show signs of “extreme partisan gerrymandering,” which “is contrary to the fundamental right of North Carolina citizens to have elections conducted freely and honestly to ascertain, fairly and truthfully, the will of the people.” Monday’s ruling said the state may not hold any elections for Congress using the current maps. The Raleigh News & Observer reports that the maps, drawn in 2016, replaced a different set of maps from 2011, which were struck down as unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. The judges ruled that if there aren’t new maps in time for the primary elections on March 3, then they could delay all or some of the primaries until later in 2020.