The North Carolina Supreme Court will not delay federal congressional races this year.
Lawyers representing the state and Republican legislative leaders had asked the justices to reject the injunction request, saying it was filed too late and that the three Superior Court judges had found the plans “are constitutional in all respects.”
The big difference now compared to 2002, said Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett and the House’s redistricting chief, is that a trial judge in 2002 had found the legislative districts drawn by Democrats as unconstitutional.
“This situation is exactly the opposite,” Lewis said in an interview, calling the injunction request a “frivolous attempt” to delay the elections.
Two lawsuits filed in late 2011 want the congressional and legislative maps struck down and redrawn. They allege the boundaries are unconstitutional racial gerrymanders that cluster black voters in districts so that seats around them are more apt to elect Republicans.
Link here.