A three-judge panel of federal judges struck down state legislative districts in North Carolina Thursday, saying legislators relied too heavily on race when drawing up the district maps in 2011.
"Race was the predominant factor motivating the drawing of all the challenged districts," says the 167-page opinion.
None of the 28 districts in question are located in Western North Carolina. That suggests changes in the shape of mountain legislative districts might be minimal, but there could still be a chain reaction affecting mountain districts as changes are made elsewhere.
The District Court judges ruled it is too late for the state General Assembly to draw new lines for use in this year's elections so the state will use those already in effect.
"We regrettably conclude that ... there is insufficient time" to change districts and hold party primaries then a general election in November, the opinion ruling says.
Legislators must redraw districts during their next legislative session, scheduled to begin in January 2017, the ruling says.
The ruling is the most recent in a series of court rulings overturning laws affecting voting and elections that passed since Republicans took control of the legislature in 2011.
The state's voter ID law, which made several changes in voting rules, was found unconstitutional by a federal appeals court last week. The state's district lines for U.S. House seats were struck down early this year and the General Assembly had to redraw them, postponing March 15 primaries for congressional seats to June as a result.
A lawsuit challenging that new district map was filed last week.
Mostly Democratic critics of the state legislative map struck down Thursday say the Republican architects of the plan packed as many African-American voters as they could into a few districts, giving GOP candidates an edge in the remaining districts.
Republicans respond that they were simply following laws and legal precedents that they create districts in which black voters make up a majority.
Thursday's decision says legislators took a blanket approach to so-called "majority-minority" districts instead of looking at voting patterns and other data in each to decide the best way to shape districts.
