North Carolina must redraw districts by March 15 for 2017 special election

North Carolina lawmakers must redraw legislative districts by March 15 and hold new elections by the end of 2017, following a federal court order from a Middle District Court issued Tuesday.

This decision comes after an August ruling in which the courts deemed 9 state Senate and 19 state House districts to be unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment due to racial gerrymandering.

As a result of this ruling, the court has ordered a special election to be held in 2017 after the map has been redrawn. This would mean lawmakers elected Nov. 8 could potentially be removed from office, shortening their original two-year terms.

As the results stand now, Republicans will have a 74-seat super-majority in the House and a 35-seat super-majority in the Senate. Those figures could change after the districts are redrawn.

The court suggested the special election be held at the same time as municipal elections to increase voter turnout.

“While special elections have costs, those costs pale in comparison to the injury caused by allowing citizens to continue to be represented by legislators elected pursuant to a racial gerrymander,” the court order said.

The ruling has proved to be controversial.

In a joint statement, Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, and Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, opposed the decision.

“This politically-motivated decision, which would effectively undo the will of millions of North Carolinians just days after they cast their ballots, is a gross overreach that blatantly disregards the constitutional guarantee for voters to duly elect their legislators to biennial terms,” the statement said.

Sen. Jeff Jackson, D-Mecklenburg, said the decision could threaten the current Republican super-majorities in Congress.

“This is great news,” he said. “North Carolina is a thoroughly gerrymandered state, and this court order is going to relieve some of that pressure.”

Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, said the ruling could increase the competitiveness of state legislative elections. He said nearly 90 percent of the 170 members of the North Carolina General Assembly run uncontested or win their race by double-digit margins.

“Perhaps out of this, we’ll get districts that are more competitive, and that would be a good thing,” he said.

Elliot Engstrom, a fellow at Elon Law School, said gerrymandering is not unconstitutional.

“It’s perfectly fine to gerrymander in order to bolster your political party’s chance of winning an election,” he said. “It is not okay to gerrymander using race, and that’s what this whole thing is about.”

The ruling is currently being appealed to the United States Supreme Court. However, Engstrom said until the Supreme Court orders otherwise, the ruling stands.

“As of right now, they have to follow the district court’s decision,” he said.

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