The lawsuit, filed in federal court, says Republicans have unlawfully diluted Black voter influence
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina voting-rights advocates sued Tuesday to overturn all of the redistricting plans drawn by Republicans and being used starting with the 2024 elections, saying legislative leaders unlawfully weakened the electoral influence of Black voters.
The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, Common Cause and eight Black residents
Earlier this month, close to 20 Black and Latino voters sued to strike down the new congressional districts, four of which they argue are illegal racial gerrymanders.
And a lawsuit filed by two Black voters said two eastern North Carolina state Senate districts violate the Voting Rights Act through new boundaries that failed to create a majority-Black district. The plaintiffs in the Senate litigation have asked a federal judge to rule by Dec. 29 whether to block the use of the districts in the primaries while the case goes to court.
The new congressional boundaries could help Republicans on Capitol Hill retain control of the U.S. House entering 2025. In recent weeks, three incumbent Democrats — Reps. Jeff Jackson, Kathy Manning and Wiley Nickel — decided not to seek reelection, saying the districts were so gerrymandered toward the GOP that it was futile to run in 2024.
While opponents of Republican maps argue publicly that the GOP’s lines are designed to squeeze out more electoral seats at the expense of Democrats, recent court rulings have neutered legal claims of illegal partisan gerrymandering. That has appeared to narrow legal challenges to North Carolina redistricting maps largely to racial bias claims.
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