Judges are weighing whether a provision in North Carolina’s constitution limiting when legislative districts can be redrawn should have prevented Republican lawmakers from altering boundaries well beyond lines that a federal court struck down.
A panel of state judges didn’t immediate rule Friday following oral arguments by lawyers for groups that sued over four state House districts and for GOP legislators.
The constitution says legislative districts “shall remain unaltered” until the next census. It’s already understood there are exceptions when a court orders changes, like what happened in 2016. But the plaintiffs say the legislature went too far in Wake County, where just two districts were declared illegal racial gerrymanders.
A lawyer for the Republicans say redrawing several more Wake districts was reasonable to comply with the federal court ruling.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines