Federal judge refuses to block NC Senate map accused of diluting Black votes
A federal judge has denied a request to block North Carolina’s new map of state Senate districts on the grounds that it illegally diluted the votes of Black North Carolinians.
In a 69-page order released Friday, U.S. District Judge James Dever III sided with Republican leaders who defended the map, writing that plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed in showing that the new map violates the Voting Rights Act.
“At this stage of the case, plaintiffs fail to demonstrate legally significant racially polarized voting in northeast North Carolina in the counties at issue in this case,” he wrote.
Dever further wrote that it would be improper to issue an injunction this close to an election as any remedial changes would “come with extraordinary cost, confusion, and hardship.”
Voters have already begun requesting absentee ballots for the March 5 primary election and early in-person voting begins on Feb. 15.
A ruling in the plaintiffs’ favor could have had major implications for the 2024 elections.
Republicans currently hold a veto-proof majority in the legislature — but only by one vote in each chamber. If Dever had ruled that legislators needed to create a Black-majority district in the northeast, it would have essentially guaranteed a Democratic pickup, potentially breaking the supermajority.
Dever suggested that the case would benefit from a full trial, where both parties could seek to obtain evidence and conduct interviews.
The voters bringing the lawsuit quickly appealed to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Plaintiffs in the case are two Black voters in the northeastern part of the state, who allege that the new map cracks groups of Black voters between two districts.
They sued the State Board of Elections in November, 26 days after the new map was passed. Dever chided plaintiffs for waiting so long in court filings and denied a motion to speed up the case.
Republican leaders who crafted the map have said no racial data was used in the redistricting process.
This story was originally published January 26, 2024 at 1:04 PM.
