Three-Judge Panel Strikes Down N.C. District Maps for Partisan Manipulation

image
Published: 27 Aug, 2018
1 min read

A three-judge panel ruled Monday that North Carolina's congressional districts once again violated the US Constitution. This time, however, it was not on racial grounds -- but partisan.

The court further ruled that the maps may need to be redrawn ahead of the November elections, just a little over two months away.

North Carolina legislators are expected to ask the Supreme Court to intervene. The high court is short a justice after Anthony Kennedy's resignation.

Lower courts appear to be increasingly willing to rule on the partisan nature of electoral maps. However, the Supreme Court punted two cases this year for lack of standing, holding that the cases were more about partisan interests than individual legal rights.

"[T]his Court is not responsible for vindicating generalized partisan preferences. The Court’s constitutionally prescribed role is to vindicate the individual rights of the people appearing before it," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority in Gill v. Whitford.

In this case, the federal court ruled that the Republican Party unconstitutionally gerrymandered the congressional districts over Democrats -- at its core being the interest of two political parties and their members.

Stay tuned for further developments on this story.

You Might Also Like

Trump sitting in the oval office with a piece of paper with a cannabis leaf on his desk.
Is Trump About to Outflank Democrats on Cannabis? Progressives Sound the Alarm
As President Donald Trump signals renewed interest in reclassifying cannabis from a Schedule I drug to Schedule III, a policy goal long championed by liberals and libertarians, the reaction among some partisan progressive advocates is not celebration, but concern....
08 Dec, 2025
-
5 min read
Malibu, California.
From the Palisades to Simi Valley, Independent Voters Poised to Decide the Fight to Replace Jacqui Irwin
The coastline that defines California’s mythology begins here. From Malibu’s winding cliffs to the leafy streets of Brentwood and Bel Air, through Topanga Canyon and into the valleys of Calabasas, Agoura Hills, and Thousand Oaks, the 42nd Assembly District holds some of the most photographed, most coveted, and most challenged terrain in the state. ...
10 Dec, 2025
-
6 min read
Ranked choice voting
Ranked Choice for Every Voter? New Bill Would Transform Every Congressional Election by 2030
As voters brace for what is expected to be a chaotic and divisive midterm election cycle, U.S. Representatives Jamie Raskin (Md.), Don Beyer (Va.), and U.S. Senator Peter Welch (Vt.) have re-introduced legislation that would require ranked choice voting (RCV) for all congressional primaries and general elections beginning in 2030....
10 Dec, 2025
-
3 min read