Update on litigation affecting NC elections: On June 5, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that NC state legislative districts were racially gerrymandered and thus illegal. But the Supreme Court did not affirm the lower court’s prescribed remedy — that the state of NC draw new districts and hold special statewide elections in 2017, an unusual occurrence in what would typically be a year of local elections. Instead, the Supreme Court ordered the lower court to reconsider the remedy and balance benefits against the burdens and costs a special election would entail.
Learn more:
“US Supreme Court affirms NC legislative districts as racial gerrymanders” in the Raleigh News & Observer
“Breaking: Supreme Court Summarily Affirms NC Racial Gerrymandering Case, Revives Chance of Special Election in 2017 Pending New Hearing” in Election Law Blog.