North Carolina judges have dismissed a lawsuit challenging redistricting and congressional district lines for indirectly violating the constitutional right to “fair elections.” The justices said their recent confirmation that redistricting policy decisions are left to state legislatures, not courts, still applies.
In an order released Friday, a three-judge panel of the Superior Court dismissed a complaint filed in January by several voters who sought to block redistricting because they argued it would create extreme preferences in favor of one party, in this case Republicans.
In a 2023 ruling by the state Supreme Court, the Republican majority said the judiciary does not have the authority to declare districting maps illegal partisan gerrymanders and that districting is a political matter in which the judiciary should not intervene, except in challenges to specific restrictions.
At a court hearing earlier this month, the voters’ lawyers argued that the 2023 ruling doesn’t apply to his case, which relies on an unspoken but implied right to fair elections in the state constitution. The lawsuit cited clear language in the constitution that “elections shall be frequent” and “all elections shall be free.”
But the order signed by Superior Court Judges Jeffrey Foster, Angela Puckett and Ashley Gore says the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling will still determine the outcome of the case — something that has also been argued by Republican legislative leaders who are among the defendants in the suit.
“The issues raised by plaintiffs are clearly political in nature,” Thursday’s order reads. “There is no judicially discoverable or addressable standard for determining these issues, and their resolution by the committee requires policy decisions more appropriate to the policy-making branch of government, namely the General Assembly.”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs said Saturday they planned to appeal. In a written statement, the lawyers added that a ruling that “the Legislature manipulated voters to essentially create a predetermined election outcome” is outside the court’s jurisdiction and would create a result “that, if correct, would be devastating to North Carolina’s democratic election process.” Spokespeople for North Carolina Assembly Speaker Tim Moore and Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
The lawsuit is one of four in North Carolina challenging congressional and legislative district boundaries that the Republican-controlled General Assembly drew last fall to favor Republicans in elections through 2030. The other three, filed in federal court and still pending, allege illegal racial redistricting.
The “Fair Elections” lawsuits focus on a small number of districts. All three justices hearing the cases are Republicans. Chief Justice Paul Newby, a Republican who wrote the leading opinion in the 2023 redistricting decision, selected a three-judge panel to hear such cases.
