CASE SUMMARY

On January 31, 2017, a resident and voter of Hoke County, North Carolina, filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina State Board of Elections and the Hoke County Board of Elections, challenging the at-large method of electing Hoke County Commissioners. The plaintiff alleged that as a result of racially polarized voting, in conjunction with the at-large method of electing county commissioners, the value of white voters' votes, like the plaintiff's, is unlawfully diluted. The plaintiff sought a court declaration that the at-large election method violated the equal protection clauses of the U.S. and North Carolina Constitutions, that the at-large election method constituted a racial gerrymander in violation of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, and that the plaintiff's voting rights would be harmed without the Court's intervention. The plaintiff requested both preliminary and permanent injunctive relief barring the defendants from enforcing or giving any effect to the current "at large" election scheme, and an order requiring the Hoke County Board of Commissioners to institute a constitutionally compliant districting plan.

On May 15, 2017, the federal district court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss the complaint, finding that the plaintiff failed to state a racial gerrymandering claim as against the Hoke County Board of Elections and that the claim against the North Carolina Board of Elections was barred by the Eleventh Amendment. The plaintiff appealed this ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on June 14, 2017, and on May 25, 2017, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment. The plaintiff petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, which the Court denied on January 8, 2018.

CASE LIBRARY

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina - No. 1:17-cv-00078 (Originally Walker v. N.C. State Bd. of Elections)

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit - No. 17-1383

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit - No. 17-1727

U.S. Supreme Court - No. 17-6309