On Friday, federal judges refused to delay a ruling that North Carolina congressional districts be redrawn over racial gerrymandering in 2011 redistricting. The rejection then appealed to the US Supreme Court by the state election officials and forces congressional primaries to be rescheduled for June 7.
WRAL reported that three judges ruled North Carolina legislators had unconstitutionally relied on race when drawing two district maps: the 12th Congressional District, which expands from Charlotte to Greensboro; Winston-Salem which is held by democratic Congresswoman Alma Adams; and the 1st Congressional District, which is based in the eastern part of North Carolina and is being currently held by Democratic Congressman G.K. Butterfield.
While the order finds only two districts unconstitutional, they stretch and touch so many other districts that the bulk of North Carolina's federal election map will have to be redrawn. As of Monday, as North Carolina voters are already casting ballots by mail, almost 10,000 voters had requested mail-in absentee ballots, and almost 700 have been cast.
The US court ordered North Carolina to redraw its congressional maps after it became a law in 2011, as ABC News reported. It is now up to Chief Justice Roberts after the state appealed that decision to the Supreme Court. Justice Roberts handles all appeals of this issue and was reported to reject a similar request from Virginia. After such rejection, a special court appointee has since been tapped to redraw a district in the said state.
Meanwhile, US Supreme Court gave no explanation for its decision in a one-sentence order which was issued on late Friday night. According to Reuters, the ruling said 'race had been the main factor' when the Republican-led legislature redraw the boundaries and lawmakers from the state were not justified in using that benchmark.
The state's gubernatorial and presidential primaries will be held on March 15. Reports also say that the late Justice Antonin Scalia had been expected to cast a vote in favor of staying the ruling before his death.
