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Federal court strikes down redrawn NC congressional maps — Federal judges have ruled that state lawmakers gerrymandered the 1st and 12th congressional districts in North Carolina and must redraw the voting maps by Feb. 19.
More from the Charlotte Observer:
A federal court panel ruled on Friday that two of North Carolina's congressional districts are racial gerrymanders and must be redrawn in a week.
An order, written by U.S. Circuit Judge Roger L. Gregory, also bars elections in North Carolina's 1st and 12th congressional districts until new maps are approved.
Read more here: www.charlotteobserver.com/...Update 2x:
All three judges agreed that the plaintiffs had proven race had predominated in drawing the 1st District lines. Only two judges believed the case had been proven for the 12th district.
This ruling has the potential to throw the North Carolina primary into turmoil. The Republicans in the NC General Assembly had moved the presidential primary to March 15th to increase the state’s influence. The NC House wanted to save money so they moved all of the state’s federal, state and local race primaries to the same date. Mail in ballots are already being turned in.
"Elections should be decided through a contest of issues, not skillful mapmaking," U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn wrote in a concurring opinion. "Today, modern computer mapping allows for gerrymandering on steroids, as political mapmakers can easily identify individual registrations on a house-by-house basis, mapping their way to victory." www.wral.com/...
"There is strong evidence that race was the only nonnegotiable criterion and that traditional redistricting principles were subordinated to race," 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Roger Gregory wrote for the court. "In fact, the overwhelming evidence in this case shows that a (black voting-age population) percentage floor, or a racial quota, was established in both CD 1 and CD 12. And, that floor could not be compromised."
The ruling stated that “The plaintiffs contend that the congressional map adopted by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2011 violates the Fourteenth Amendment: race was the predominant consideration with respect to both districts, and the General Assembly did not narrowly tailor the districts to serve a compelling interest. The court agrees.”
These two districts touch most of the other congressional districts in the state. Only the 10th and 11th districts in the western part of the state do not border one of the two districts.