RALEIGH, N.C. — Redistricting experts say newly redrawn North Carolina legislative districts are skewed less toward Republicans than the current plans, which judges rejected for political bias, but they also say the maps wouldn't necessarily guarantee Democratic majorities in 2020.
A three-judge panel is now reviewing the new state House and Senate districts approved this week by the General Assembly.
The judges' Sept. 3 ruling rejecting the 2017 maps marked the first major decision in a partisan gerrymandering case since the U.S. Supreme Court decided in June to stay out of such controversies while keeping the door open for states to act.
The judges didn't order politically competitive districts. Rather, they told legislative mapmakers to avoid using partisan data. The judges now will decide whether more changes are needed