Judge declines request to speed up NC redistricting case
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – A federal judge rejected a request this week to speed up a lawsuit regarding the new election districts Republicans drew for the state Senate, calling that request “meritless.”
While the case will continue to move forward, Judge James Dever is declining to take any action ahead of Dec. 4 when candidates will begin filing to run for office for 2024.
Judge Dever questioned why the plaintiffs waited nearly four weeks after the General Assembly voted on the new districts to file their lawsuit and ask the court to issue a preliminary injunction.
“Furthermore, plaintiffs’ request completely ignores that their case is not the only case on the court’s docket and that plaintiffs do not set this court’s schedule for holding hearings or deciding motions. This court has over 1,000 cases,” Dever writes.
It means that for now, the districts Republicans have drawn will remain in place.
“These districts were finalized in late October. People who want to challenge these districts have had plenty of time to come up with a lawsuit,” said Mitch Kokai, senior political analyst at the conservative John Locke Foundation. “The judge deciding, no I’m not gonna go along with this outlandish timeline, really does make things better for the Republicans who want to see those districts in place.”
The plaintiffs focused their case on the state Senate districts in the northeastern part of the state, saying Republicans “cracked” Black voters across multiple districts, diluting their voting power in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
Meredith College political expert David McLennan says the judge’s refusal to act this week is significant for Republicans as they seek to hold their veto-proof supermajority under the new district lines.
“If there’s any remedy, it may not occur until after the 2024 election,” said McLennan. “In fact, I don’t see anything happening to the election calendar, which means we’re moving forward with the 2024 maps.”
What’s surprised McLennan is that there have been no lawsuits filed challenging the new Congressional districts or the map for the state House of Representatives.
Under the redrawn Congressional map, Republicans are poised to flip as many as four seats in next year’s election. North Carolina currently has an even 7-7 split of Democrats and Republicans representing the state in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“It seems like Democratic-leaning groups would have taken the opportunity, but they did not,” said McLennan. “The fact that there has been no movement indicates that they may have questions about the legitimacy of a case using the Voting Rights Act.”
Democrats have indicated additional litigation is likely, but it’s unclear whether any additional lawsuits will be filed before the candidate filing period begins next week. Courts could still consider the issue even after candidate filing begins.
“Republicans took six months to draw these maps from the time that they knew that they could redraw them. Republicans intentionally delayed to cause this problem,” said Gov. Roy Cooper (D). “I hope that the courts eventually will find this and correct this problem. It’s what they should do.”
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