Federal court allows North Carolina redistricting plan to proceed

quote:

---

North Carolina Republican lawmakers prevailed Wednesday on a preliminary injunction that would have blocked a 2026 congressional map redrawn to favor the GOP.

The redrawn map is GOP lawmakers’ response to President Donald Trump’s push to change voting maps across the country to help Republicans retain control of the U.S. House in 2026.

The North Carolina NAACP, Common Cause of North Carolina and a group of voters identified as the Williams plaintiffs had argued that a 2026 congressional map passed by the General Assembly last month reflects unconstitutional racial discrimination.

They alleged that changes to the 1st Congressional District dismantled a region known as the Black Belt, a region spanning many counties whose voters have elected a Black member of Congress for more than 50 years.

A three-judge panel — Fourth Circuit Judge Allison J. Rushing and the Middle District’s Chief Judge Richard Myers and Judge Thomas Schroeder, all appointed by Republican presidents — found that while the plaintiffs “have shown a disparate impact on black voters, they have not demonstrated that this effect likely reflects discriminatory intent.”

The judges determined that there was not enough evidence to provide a “clear showing” that the racial discrimination claim is likely to succeed. The new congressional map will therefore go into effect even as the lawsuit continues.

---