North Carolina redistricting lawsuit over right to 'fair elections' dismissed by trial judges

The North Carolina state House reviews copies of a map proposal for new state House districts during a committee hearing at the Legislative Office Building in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. North Carolina judges deciding whether a redistricting lawsuit …RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina trial judges have dismissed a lawsuit challenging redrawn legislative and congressional district lines on the argument that they run afoul of an indirect constitutional right to “fair elections.

In a 2023 ruling by the state Supreme Court, the GOP majority said the judiciary lacked authority to declare redistricting maps as illegal partisan gerrymanders. They also said that redistricting was a political matter the judicial branch must stay out of, save for challenges on specific limitations.

But the order signed Superior Court Judges Jeffery Foster, Angela Pickett and Ashley Gore reads that the 2023 opinion by the Supreme Court still controls the outcome in this case. That’s the argument also made by Republican legislative leaders who were among the lawsuit defendants. Spokespeople for state House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger, as well as a representative for the plaintiffs, did not immediately respond to emails late Friday seeking a response to the dismissal. The plaintiffs can appeal the decision.

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