RALEIGH — A panel of North Carolina judges say the U.S. House district map that Republican state legislators drew last month will be used in elections next year.
The three judges decided Monday there wasn’t enough time in the election cycle to consider detailed redistricting arguments from the lawmakers and from voters who challenged the latest congressional maps.
The North Carolina primary is March 3, and candidate filing opened Monday. The judges had suspended congressional filings while they reviewed the case, but Judge Paul Ridgeway said from the bench the State Board of Elections can now start receiving filings from U.S. House hopefuls.
The judges blocked the use of the 13 district boundaries approved in 2016 because they were likely unlawful partisan gerrymanders, so the General Assembly created a new map.