RALEIGH — North Carolina state judges soon will hear arguments on whether congressional districts challenged by voters who say the lines are tainted by excessive partisan bias shouldn't be used in the 2020 elections.
A three-judge panel on Thursday set an Oct. 24 hearing date on a request by the plaintiffs in a partisan gerrymandering lawsuit to block the maps now, rather than wait for a trial. The voters who sued say the legislature could redraw the state's 13 U.S. House districts in time for use in the scheduled March primary.
The congressional lawsuit was filed three weeks after the same judges struck down state House and Senate maps on similar claims that Republican lawmakers violated the state constitution by deliberately drawing them to keep control of the General Assembly.
