RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Federal judges now agree that North Carolina's congressional district map drawn by Republicans is illegally gerrymandered, excessively partisan, and must quickly be redone.
The three judges ruled late Tuesday that the boundaries violate the U.S. Constitution because they were designed to benefit Republican candidates at the expense of non-Republican voters. Republican mapmakers made clear in 2016 that they wanted to retain the GOP's 10-3 seat advantage in the congressional delegation.
Eric H. Holder, Jr., Chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC) & 82nd Attorney General of the United States, issued the following statement on the ruling:
“Today's ruling was just the latest example of the courts telling state legislators in North Carolina that citizens should be able to pick their representatives, instead of politicians picking their voters. It's long past time for the legislature to produce fair maps that represent the diverse communities of North Carolina.”
The judges gave the legislature about two weeks to come up with a replacement. Candidate filing is supposed to begin Feb. 12.
There's a good chance Republicans will try to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to block the ruling's enforcement until the justices rule in a similar case they heard from Wisconsin.
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