CASE SUMMARY

North Carolina enacted remedial legislative plans in 2017 after a federal court in North Carolina v. Covington struck down several of their 2011 legislative districts as unconstitutional racial gerrymanders. On February 21, 2018, a coalition of nonprofit groups and N.C. voters filed a state lawsuit against the State of North Carolina, the State Board of Elections, and various state legislators challenging four of the remedial legislative districts, each of which was not held to be an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in Covington, as being unnecessarily changed in violation of the state constitution’s prohibition on mid-decade redistricting. They sought injunctive relief barring the defendants from using the challenged portions of the 2017 plans in future elections and requiring the state to enact a revised remedial plan restoring those districts to their prior configurations.

  • On November 2, 2018, the Wake County Superior Court granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs on the grounds the changes to the challenged districts were not necessary to comply with the court’s decision in Covington and, therefore, those districts violated the mid-decade redistricting prohibition in the state constitution. The court ordered the General Assembly to enact new remedial plans remedying the identified defects for use in the 2020 election by either the end of the General Assembly’s next regular session or July 1, 2019, whichever was earlier.

CASE LIBRARY

North Carolina Superior Court, Wake County - No. 18-cvs-2322