RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Voters who successfully sued to throw out nearly 30 North Carolina legislative districts are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve a lower court ruling demanding new boundaries be drawn quickly and special elections be held in the altered districts this fall.
The voters’ attorneys filed a response with Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday to a request by Republican legislative leaders to block a three-judge panel’s order directing the remapping by March 15. The special House and Senate elections also could cut two-year terms for several dozen legislators in half. GOP leaders already are appealing the lower court decision declaring the districts illegal racial gerrymanders.
Attorney Anita Earls wrote Monday that millions of people living in those districts since 2011 should not have to wait longer for legal boundaries.