RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) — A Fourth Circuit panel upheld the newly drawn Senate map Thursday in a win for North Carolina Republicans over election maps that Democrats claim unfairly dilute Black votes.
In a 2-1 decision, the panel sided with a lower court in allowing the Senate election map to be used in upcoming elections, denying the plaintiffs’ request for an injunction.
In the majority opinion, U.S. Circuit Judge Allison Jones Rushing found the plaintiffs filed their complaint too late and lacked sufficient evidence to succeed at trial. She also challenged the accuracy of the plaintiffs’ expert opinion.
The lawsuit concerns Senate Bill 758, which was enacted by the General Assembly during redistricting in October 2023. Multiple election maps enacted during this time have been challenged by Democrats and voting rights activists, who claim the maps don’t adhere to the Voting Rights Act and are racially gerrymandered.
Rushing, a Donald Trump appointee, also cited concerns over affecting future elections and forcing the Board of Elections to discard ballots. This suit has been the fastest moving since the October redistricting, and the courts’ disinterest in speeding up the process may indicate that all of the challenged maps will be in effect during the General Election in November.
U.S. Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a Ronald Reagan appointee, joined Rushing's opinion. But in his dissent, U.S. Circuit Judge Roger Gregory criticized the lower court for assuming that minority elected officials in other parts of the state were indicative of the success of Black candidates in the disputed districts.
“(The Voting Rights Act) Section 2 is essential to ensuring the continuation of the VRA’s noble purpose; its enforcement cannot be left solely to the will or whim of state legislatures,” the Bill Clinton appointee wrote.
Two Black voters sued in November 2023 over their new Senate districts, 28 days after the maps were enacted. They live in the “Black Belt” counties of northeastern North Carolina, in an area where voting is racially polarized, and claim the map splits Black voters into majority-white districts.
The plaintiffs claimed the new maps prevent them from being able to elect the candidate they support, and that it was possible for the General Assembly to create a majority-minority district while preserving the minority opportunity district.
The new Senate map was among the new election maps drawn in October that helped North Carolina Republicans to solidify their supermajority, making it near impossible for Democrats to secure a majority. Republicans have a veto-proof majority in both the state House and Senate — by one vote. If the plaintiffs succeed in getting the maps redrawn, that additional vote could make it more difficult for Republicans to override a Democratic governor.
This lawsuit was the first to confront the new election maps; four others have since been filled, challenging congressional, state Senate and House maps. Most recently, voters sued legislative leaders and the Board of Elections, claiming the new maps violated voters’ constitutional right to fair elections.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs have pushed to expedite the Senate map lawsuit, with little success. They filed an emergency motion to expedite in November, in advance of candidate filing, which was denied by U.S. District Judge James Dever, who said that the “plaintiffs' request completely ignores that their case is not the only case on the court's docket.” The George W. Bush appointee also denied their request for a preliminary injunction to delay the use of the maps in the 2024 elections, calling it “extraordinary.”
In a hearing before Dever, the plaintiffs' attorney Elisabeth Theodore argued the scope of the disenfranchisement that the new districts create.
“Using the results of 30 out of 31 prior elections, the Black preferred candidate would lose under this map,” Theodore said.
The case will return to Dever in the Eastern District of North Carolina. In February, Dever ordered the parties to decide on a proposed case schedule within two days of the Fourth Circuit’s decision.
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