Court Orders North Carolina Congressional Map Redrawn

On Friday, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled the state's new congressional map was a partisan gerrymander that violated the State Constitution. It ordered that map, as well as those created for the General Assembly to be redrawn.

The Republican-controlled legislature had passed all the maps in early November. Although the state has a Democratic governor, the office has no veto power over the process.

As reported by the Charlotte Observer, the process from here will be under a tight timeline:

"The legislature will have a second chance to draw [the maps], the justices ruled. And the job of reviewing those maps to see if they pass muster unlike the current maps will be up to the trial court that initially heard the case. That adds an extra layer of intrigue since that trial court panel has a Republican majority, which had originally ruled in favor of the legislature in this case, a ruling now overturned by the Supreme Court.

In addition to the legislature, all other parties involved in the lawsuit will also be allowed to submit their own proposed replacement maps to the trial court for review. Everything must filed within two weeks, by Feb. 18, and then the court will have until Feb. 23 to make a decision."

The discarded congressional map significantly favored Republicans according to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight. In a politically competitive state, the consensus forecast had Democrats winning as few as 3 of the state's 14 districts under the plan.

North Carolina joins Ohio and Alabama as states with enacted maps invalidated by the courts. All have been removed from the 2022 House Interactive Map.