Voters want judges to review quickly new Congress lines

By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Voters who successfully sued so far in striking down North Carolina congressional districts want a federal court to quickly review the new map approved last week by the General Assembly to determine if it’s legal.

The voters’ attorneys filed a motion Monday laying out a proposed schedule for the three-judge panel to review the boundaries. They want the map’s validity decided by March 18.

The judges this month threw out the 1st and 12th Districts as illegal racial gerrymanders and stopped elections under the contested lines. GOP lawmakers say they didn’t consider race in drawing the new lines. Democrats say the new plan is excessively partisan gerrymandering and still should have taken racial demographics into account.

The General Assembly also delayed the March 15 congressional primaries until June 7.

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