RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether Republican lawmakers relied too heavily on race when they redrew North Carolina’s congressional districts to give the GOP a powerful advantage in the swing state.
The justices added the case to their fall calendar – almost certainly too late to affect 2016’s remaining races. But in the years ahead, it could impact partisan efforts to create electoral districts aimed at swaying the balance of power in Congress and in state legislatures.
It could be heard in conjunction with a separate case challenging voting districts in Virginia, an election law expert said.
North Carolina’s GOP leaders deny factoring in race to an illegal extent, saying their 2011 map was designed primarily to give Republicans an edge and to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act.
Opponents argue that they unfairly stacked minorities into fewer districts after the 2010 Census in ways that diluted their influence.