
NC Supreme Court Strikes Down State Senate Map, Voter ID Law

RALEIGH, N.C. — It was a busy Friday at the North Carolina Supreme Court, which within a matter of hours struck down a state Senate district map as an impermissible political gerrymander and tossed a controversial voter ID law.
In a divided, 4-3 ruling, the Democratic majority on the state’s highest court found that the most recent iteration of North Carolina’s state Senate map all but ensures Republicans will secure a veto-proof majority in the chamber next year.
Writing on behalf of the majority of justices in the redistricting case, Associate Justice Robin Hudson ordered a lower court to modify the Senate map “only to the extent necessary to achieve constitutional compliance.”
“If our state is to realize its foundational ideals of equality and popular sovereignty, it must first ensure that the channeling of ‘political power’ from the people to their representatives in government through elections, the central democratic process envisioned by our constitutional system, is done on equal terms,” Hudson wrote.
But in a dissenting opinion, Republican state Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby accused his Democratic colleagues of usurping powers reserved to state lawmakers.
“Despite the majority’s judicial amendments to our constitution to create an active role for itself in redistricting, our case law directs that the General Assembly’s policy determinations in enacting laws are entitled to a presumption of constitutionality,” Newby wrote.
Meanwhile, in a separate 4-3 decision, the North Carolina Supreme Court struck down a 2018 law that requires residents to show a photo ID when they vote in person.
Associate Justice Anita Earls wrote in the court’s majority opinion that “the law was enacted with discriminatory intent to disproportionately disenfranchise and burden African American voters in North Carolina.”
The decision doesn’t prevent lawmakers from revisiting the issue and passing a tweaked version of the photo ID law.
In a 2018 referendum, North Carolina voters overwhelmingly favored photo ID and directed lawmakers to pass such a measure.
Republican Senate Leader Phil Berger said in a statement that he plans to do just that next year.
“If Democrats on the state Supreme Court can’t respect the will of the voters, the General Assembly will,” Berger said.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
In The News
Health
Voting
In The States
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Senate Democrats defeated several bills Thursday that would have restricted abortion access in the state,... Read More
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Senate Democrats defeated several bills Thursday that would have restricted abortion access in the state, including a proposed 15-week ban with exceptions that was a priority for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The Senate Committee on Education and Health voted the measures... Read More
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Just three months ago, Rep. Elissa Slotkin was one of the most vulnerable Democrats in Washington,... Read More
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Just three months ago, Rep. Elissa Slotkin was one of the most vulnerable Democrats in Washington, fighting an expensive campaign for reelection in a Michigan district that Republicans were sure they could retake. That was all a distant memory recently as Slotkin... Read More
WASHINGTON — District of Columbia leaders made another push to rid themselves of federal oversight Tuesday by having a bill... Read More
WASHINGTON — District of Columbia leaders made another push to rid themselves of federal oversight Tuesday by having a bill introduced in the Senate that would give them statehood. The House of Representatives approved statehood for the District of Columbia in 2021 but the bill stalled... Read More
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — A gunman killed seven people at two agricultural businesses in Northern California, plunging the... Read More
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — A gunman killed seven people at two agricultural businesses in Northern California, plunging the state into mourning again in the wake of its third mass killing in eight days. Officers arrested a suspect in Monday’s shootings, 67-year-old Chunli Zhao, after... Read More
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge is set to hear arguments Tuesday on whether to release a report by a special grand... Read More
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge is set to hear arguments Tuesday on whether to release a report by a special grand jury tasked with investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies broke any laws as they sought to overturn his narrow 2020 election loss in Georgia. Fulton County... Read More
PHOENIX — Arizona’s mail-in, early voting process does not violate voters’ constitutional right to privacy, the state Court of Appeals... Read More
PHOENIX — Arizona’s mail-in, early voting process does not violate voters’ constitutional right to privacy, the state Court of Appeals has ruled. Tuesday’s ruling by a three-judge panel is a blow to the Arizona Republican Party and its chair, Kelli Ward, who had previously tried to... Read More