Opinion
US Supreme Court returns mapmaking to legislators, makes future lawsuits harder
Democrats in both Carolinas are learning the only real answer to their redistricting complaints is actually winning elections.
News
Lawmakers oppose expedited schedule in redistricting lawsuit
Legislative leaders oppose a proposed expedited schedule for addressing a federal lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s state Senate election map. Lawmakers explained their concerns in a court filing Wednesday.
News
Lawsuit challenging N.C. redistricting process thrown out
A Wake County Superior Court Judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday that was filed against the state’s election redistricting process. The suit alleged that the General Assembly violated previous court precedents governing how election maps should be drawn. Judge Graham Shirley dismissed the suit, stressing that the ruling was not a judgment on the maps themselves....
News
Court appoints special master in legislative redistricting case
The three-judge federal court panel reviewing North Carolina legislative districts decided Thursday to appoint Stanford Law School professor Nathaniel Persily to redo at least part of the maps submitted in the Covington v. North Carolina lawsuit. In its order, the panel said it was likely two of the three Senate districts and seven of the...
News
Q&A: Supreme Court returns to work after relatively low-key term
The U.S. Supreme Court returned to work in October with plenty of high-profile issues on its docket. Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow in constitutional studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, oversees analysis of the court’s last term in the latest edition of the Cato Supreme Court Review. During a recent visit to Raleigh, Shapiro briefed a local...
Opinion
Judicial nominee offers interesting take on redistricting and race
Attorney Thomas Farr believes the U.S. Supreme Court has set a new standard for legislatures considering whether to use racial factors in drawing election maps.
News
N.C. justices kick redistricting mootness decision back to trial court
A three-judge state court panel will decide whether the first lawsuit challenging N.C. election maps this decade can continue. The three judges also could decide to drop the case as moot. The N.C. Supreme Court issued a one-page order this week returning Dickson v. Rucho to the three-judge panel that originally heard the case. Justices...
Opinion
Updating the redistricting scorecard
As legislators sharpen their pencils for another round of electoral mapmaking, now seems like a good time to revisit North Carolina’s redistricting “scorecard.” Little more than two months have passed since an earlier version of the scorecard filled this space. Much has happened in recent weeks to justify an update. This column focuses on census-driven statewide redistricting...
News
Von Spakovsky: N.C. ‘ground zero’ in redistricting battles nationally
“North Carolina has become ground zero in the redistricting battles about how much and how little race can be used in the redistricting process.” That’s the view of Hans Von Spakovsky, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation who studies election law. He is a former member of the Federal Elections Commission. He was a presenter...
News
Supreme Court strikes down N.C. legislative districts, rejects special 2017 election
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s ruling striking down 28 North Carolina legislative districts as cases of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. But the high court has rejected the idea of holding special legislative elections this year. The Supreme Court had issued a stay on Jan. 10 blocking a three-judge panel’s order of a...
Opinion
A ‘scorecard’ for North Carolina’s redistricting battles
You can't tell the players without one.
News
Supreme Court affirms ruling throwing out N.C. congressional districts, splits on details
The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed a lower-court ruling throwing out congressional district maps North Carolina used for the 2012 and 2014 elections. The lower court cited racial gerrymandering. Justices split, 5-3, on whether the ruling should apply to both of the state’s majority-minority congressional districts. New Justice Neil Gorsuch took no part in the...
