North Carolina Republican lawmakers filed an emergency application Friday to the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of the recent state court decision on gerrymandering.
The North Carolina Supreme Court recently found that the Legislature’s version of the districts for the state’s 14 U.S. House seats was unconstitutionally gerrymandered, prompting GOP lawmakers to redraw the map. A trial court Wednesday found that the changes were not sufficient and created an outside panel of experts to draw a replacement map.
Tim Moore, the Republican House speaker, announced the emergency appeal Friday and said he rejected the idea that the state court could reserve that power.
NORTH CAROLINA ADOPTS CONGRESSIONAL MAP FAVORABLE TO DEMOCRATS
“The United States Constitution is clear — state legislatures, not state judges, are responsible for setting the rules governing elections,” Moore said in a press release. “By striking the General Assembly’s congressional map and redrawing their own, with the help of Democrat partisans, the courts have, once again, violated the separation of powers.”
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The latest ruling follows a series of legal victories that saw Democrats make unexpected nationwide gains despite the GOP being favored to gain dozens of seats in the 2022 midterm elections.
Although Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper did not have veto power over the map, the state Supreme Court struck it down earlier this month, ordering the Republican-led Legislature to submit new maps to be reviewed by the lower courts. One of the maps they sent created six seats favorable to Republicans, four favorable to Democrats, and four toss-ups, WSOC-TV reported.
