WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - A U.S. federal court on Tuesday set a March 15 deadline for North Carolina state lawmakers to redraw legislative districts found to be racially “gerrymandered,” and ordered a new round of elections by next November for the 28 seats at stake.

In August, the same special three-judge panel ruled that nine state Senate districts and 19 state House districts, as carved out in a plan adopted by the Republican-controlled legislature in 2011, were unconstitutional.

The panel had told North Carolina’s legislature to start revamping its political maps immediately, but left the existing boundaries intact for the Nov. 8 state elections, because of time constraints.

“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 panel wrote in its seven-page order on Tuesday.

North Carolina has already appealed the August ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has yet to act. Republicans also vowed to appeal Tuesday’s ruling, handed down by two U.S. district judges and one circuit judge.

The ruling is a “politically motivated” abuse of judicial authority, said state Senator Bob Rucho and Representative David Lewis, the Republican chairmen of the House and Senate redistricting committees.

If upheld, the court order “is a gross overreach that blatantly disregards the constitutional guarantee for voters to duly elect their legislators to biennial terms,” they said.

Last year, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice challenged North Carolina’s latest political maps, saying legislative district lines were drawn in 2011 so as to dilute the state’s black vote and give Republicans an advantage.

The three-judge panel that heard the case agreed, and Tuesday’s order, essentially an extension of its August opinion, was hailed by the North Carolina Democratic Party.

A separate three-judge U.S. court panel ruled in a similar case a week ago that state assembly districts in Wisconsin, as redrawn by its Republican-led legislature, were unconstitutionally gerrymandered.

Tuesday’s North Carolina ruling sets a deadline of March 15 for newly elected legislators to approve a redistricting plan that passes constitutional muster.

It also requires the state to hold special primary and general elections in the late summer and fall of 2017 to fill those 28 House and Senate seats.

Moreover, state lawmakers elected to any of the disputed General Assembly seats in 2016 will serve for just one year, instead of the normal two, the court ruled, a limit set for those elected next fall as well.</s>RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Federal judges told the North Carolina legislature Tuesday to redraw its own districts by March 15 to replace ones the judges previously struck down and to hold a special election using the new maps in November 2017.

The ruling also means those elected to the state House and Senate a few weeks ago would serve just one year, not two as expected.

The same three-judge panel last summer said 28 of the General Assembly’s 170 districts were illegal racial gerrymanders, but decided it was too late in the election cycle to redraw new maps and conduct elections under them this month.

Attorneys representing legislative mapmakers wanted until next July to redraw boundaries and hold elections at the next usual election date in November 2018. Lawyers for the voters who successfully sued to overturn 19 House and nine Senate districts wanted new maps in place in late January and said it wasn’t right for voters to have to wait another two years to cast ballots under lawful maps.

“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 judges wrote Tuesday, adding that despite concerns about lower voter turnout, “a special election in the fall of 2017 is an appropriate remedy.”

Republican lawmakers who helped draw the original maps in 2011 said Tuesday night that they’ll appeal the decision, which they called “politically motivated” and in blatant disregard of the state constitution’s directive that House and Senate members are elected to serve two-year terms.

The ruling “would effectively undo the will of millions of North Carolinians just days after they cast their ballots,” Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, and Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, said in a release.

Anita Earls, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers praised the ruling. “A special election in the affected districts in 2017 is the best way to protect the rights of all North Carolinians,” she said. All 170 districts will be on the ballot.

Having a special election under updated boundaries also could give Democrats an earlier opportunity to try to end the veto-proof majorities Republicans have held in the House and Senate since 2013. The 2011 maps helped GOP leaders expand majorities they won in the 2010 elections.

Last August, the same panel — U.S. Circuit Judge Jim Wynn and District Judges Catherine Eagles and Thomas Schroeder — unanimously declared that GOP legislators had failed to justify creating so many districts with Black voting-age populations above 50 percent.

The judges said a March 15 deadline for lawmakers to draw the districts also would give them time to review the boundaries to ensure the problems have been duly addressed.

In an earlier legal brief, attorneys for Lewis and Rucho said that although only 28 districts were struck down, the General Assembly likely would have to redraw 116 districts because lines in surrounding districts must change, too.

The order says North Carolina will hold a primary election for the General Assembly in late August or early September and the general election in early November 2017, with dates set by the legislature. The judges pointed out that the usual municipal elections next year could help boost turnout.

Tuesday’s order comes a week before the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a similar racial gerrymandering lawsuit involving North Carolina’s congressional districts. It could affirm, limit or overturn the August ruling on the legislative maps.</s>RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Federal judges told the North Carolina legislature Tuesday to redraw its own districts by mid-March to replace ones the judges previously struck down and to hold a special election using the new maps in November 2017.

The ruling means those elected to the state House and Senate a few weeks ago would serve just one year, not two as expected.

The same three-judge panel last summer said 28 of the General Assembly’s 170 districts were illegal racial gerrymanders, but decided it was too late in the election cycle to redraw new maps and conduct elections under them this month.

Attorneys representing legislative mapmakers wanted until next July to redraw boundaries and hold elections at the next usual election date in November 2018. Lawyers for the voters who successfully sued to overturn the districts wanted new maps in place in late January and said it wasn’t right for voters to have to wait another two years to cast ballots under lawful maps.

“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 judges wrote Tuesday, adding that despite concerns about lower voter turnout, “a special election in the fall of 2017 is an appropriate remedy.”

Republican lawmakers who helped draw the original maps in 2011 said Tuesday night that they’ll appeal the decision, which they called “politically motivated” and in blatant disregard of the state constitution’s directive that House and Senate members are elected to serve two-year terms.

The ruling “would effectively undo the will of millions of North Carolinians just days after they cast their ballots,” Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, and Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, said in a release.

Anita Earls, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers praised the ruling. “A special election in the affected districts in 2017 is the best way to protect the rights of all North Carolinians,” she said. All 170 districts will be on the ballot.

Last August, the same panel — U.S. Circuit Judge Jim Wynn and District Judges Catherine Eagles and Thomas Schroeder — unanimously declared that GOP legislators had failed to justify creating so many majority-black districts.
A federal judge orders the state of North Carolina to redraw its legislative districts citing gerrymandering.