RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina judges have blocked the state's current congressional map from being used in the 2020 elections. They sided with Democratic and unaffiliated voters who say there's plenty of evidence showing Republicans drew the districts chiefly to maximize their seat total.
The state judges issued a preliminary injunction Monday preventing elections under the district lines, starting with the March primary.
The judges halted the use of these districts less than two months after they struck down state House and Senate districts. There they found extreme political manipulation of the lines similar to what voters suing over the congressional map also say occurred.
WFMY spoke with Martin Kifer, High Point University Political Science Department Chair, who said two things could happen.
One, the legislature will do what the court asked and redraw the map. This could mean you could see some changes at the polls in March.
Or, two, they could appeal the court's ruling.
Kifer said that could create some problems.
"People are expecting to be able to file to run for election or re-election in districts in December and if there's some sort of appeal that could hold up the process," Kifer said.
Either way, the map will be redrawn in 2020 because of a census.
"Its the census determines not only how many U.S. Representatives North Carolina gets, but also indirectly how these districts are going to be drawn," Kifer said.
The State Board of Elections has said lines need to be finalized by December 15. Candidates must also file by early December.
We will continue to keep you up to date on this process.
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