RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) 鈥 North Carolina voting-rights advocates sued Tuesday to overturn all of the redistricting plans drawn by Republicans and being used starting with the 2024 elections, saying legislative leaders unlawfully weakened the electoral influence of Black voters.
The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, Common Cause and eight Black residents in federal court. They accuse GOP legislative leaders of intentionally moving this fall boundary lines for General Assembly and congressional districts in part so that many Black voters will be prevented from having the opportunity to elect their preferred candidates. Instead, the plaintiffs contend, Black voting blocs are submerged into districts with white majorities that don't normally vote for Black candidates.
For decades, Black residents have overwhelmingly favored Democratic candidates.
鈥淭he General Assembly targeted predominantly Black voting precincts with surgical precision throughout the state in drawing and enacting the 2023 Plans, at the expense of traditional redistricting criteria, to achieve preferred district lines that diminish Black voters鈥 ability to elect candidates of their choice at all levels of government,鈥 the lawsuit鈥檚 authors wrote.
Tuesday鈥檚 lawsuit marks at least the third and most comprehensive litigation filed by voters since the Republican-dominated General Assembly for its own districts and for North Carolina鈥檚 congressional delegation that are designed to boost GOP clout for years to come.
While the plaintiffs wrote they want the maps thrown out so no elections can be held under them 鈥 alleging violations of the U.S. Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act 鈥 their goal doesn't aim to block their use for next year's elections. Instead, the lawsuit seeks remedial maps be enacted for use no later than the 2026 general election.
Hilary Harris Klein with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, told reporters that timing and logistics of their lawsuit made seeking a resolution for next year's elections difficult. Candidate for the March 5 primary elections, and the first primary absentee ballots will be disbursed to voters on Jan. 19. She also blamed in part a five-month delay between legislators stating they would redraw maps and the public hearings for new plans in September.
An email from Lauren Horsch, a spokesperson for state Senate leader Phil Berger 鈥 one of the lawsuit defendants 鈥 in part called the lawsuit frivolous and cited a two-month delay between the public introduction of the maps and the litigation.
The maps enacted in October put Republicans in good shape to win at least 10 of the state鈥檚 14 congressional seats next November and to retain majorities in the state Senate and House, according to redistricting experts and statewide election data. The maps, if upheld, are supposed to be used through the 2030 elections.
Under the congressional map that had been drawn by state judges for the 2022 elections, Democrats and Republicans each won seven seats.
The plaintiffs in Tuesday鈥檚 lawsuit focus largely on five of the state鈥檚 congressional districts, nine of the 50 state Senate districts and roughly 20 of the 120 state House districts. Many of them are located in counties and contain precincts where a disproportionate percentage of Black residents live compared to the entire state, which is more than 22% African American.
鈥淓veryone鈥檚 vote should count equally, and there are people determined to make sure that Black votes are discounted,鈥 state NAACP President Deborah Maxwell said Tuesday.
The lawsuit says Republican legislators adopted remapping criteria that excluded race, even though the U.S. Supreme Court in June that Black voting power in areas with high Black populations must be scrutinized to ensure Voting Rights Act compliance.
Earlier this month, close to 20 Black and Latino voters sued to four of which they argue are illegal racial gerrymanders.
And a lawsuit filed by two Black voters said two eastern North Carolina state Senate districts violate the Voting Rights Act through new boundaries that failed to create a majority-Black district. The plaintiffs in the Senate litigation have asked a federal judge to rule by Dec. 29 whether to block the use of the districts in the primaries while the case goes to court.
The new congressional boundaries could help Republicans on Capitol Hill entering 2025. In recent weeks, three incumbent Democrats 鈥 Reps. , and 鈥 decided not to seek reelection, saying the districts were so gerrymandered toward the GOP that it was futile to run in 2024.
While opponents of Republican maps argue publicly that the GOP鈥檚 lines are designed to squeeze out more electoral seats at the expense of Democrats, recent court rulings have neutered legal claims of illegal partisan gerrymandering. That has appeared to narrow legal challenges to North Carolina redistricting maps largely to racial bias claims.
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This story has been corrected to show the plaintiffs in Tuesday鈥檚 lawsuit focus on five congressional districts, not four.
