The request is part of a lawsuit filed by Watauga voters after the legislature blocked results of a countywide vote choosing fair local districts over state lawmakers’ manipulated versions 

BOONE, NC – Watauga County voters today asked a federal court to block the use of unconstitutional county voting maps imposed by Republican state legislators for the 2026 election.

Instead, the voters are asking the court to order use of new districts already approved by Watauga residents in a countywide vote, or revert to election methods used prior to the legislature’s manipulated versions.

The legislature’s gerrymandered Watauga maps were introduced by Sen. Ralph Hise, who was also heavily involved with the October 2025 congressional redistricting which produced the most gerrymandered congressional map in North Carolina’s history.

Today’s request for a preliminary injunction is related to a lawsuit filed last month by Watauga County voters joined by the nonpartisan groups Watauga County Voting Rights Taskforce and Common Cause North Carolina.

The lawsuit, Watauga County Voting Rights Task Force v. Watauga County Board of Elections, was filed on Oct. 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. The suit challenges the legislature’s gerrymander of the Watauga County Board of Commissioners and the Watauga County Board of Education.

The suit also challenges an unconstitutional law passed by the legislature to block the results of a countywide referendum that was placed on the 2024 ballot in response to the legislature’s gerrymander, in which an overwhelming 71% of Watauga voters voted to adopt fair districts for Watauga County elections.

“Watauga County voters would suffer deep and irreparable harm to our fundamental constitutional freedoms if the unlawful districts imposed on us by Raleigh politicians are used for the 2026 election,” said Ray Russell, a former Watauga County Commissioner and a plaintiff in the case. “We’re asking the court to provide relief to the people of our community so that our rights are respected and we have a voice in choosing who represents us in our local government.”

“Whether it’s our congressional districts or local county lines, every North Carolinian deserves fair maps that reflect communities – not politicians’ self-interest,” said Bob Phillips, Executive Director of Common Cause North Carolina. “Our fight in Watauga and across the state is about returning power to the people.”

Background on the case: Watauga County residents challenge an unconstitutional abuse of power by politicians in Raleigh

As chair of the NC Senate’s Elections Committee in 2023, Sen. Ralph Hise of Mitchell County pushed through controversial legislation dictating sweeping changes to the structure of Watauga County Board of Commissioners elections and imposed gerrymandered commissioner districts to benefit his preferred candidates.

Another bill sponsored by Sen. Hise then forced the Watauga County Board of Education to also use the same gerrymandered districts, further undermining fair elections for residents.

The legislation manipulated voting maps to single out students at Appalachian State University, packing most into two overpopulated districts and undermining their voices in elections. To do this, the maps split multiple voting precincts – for instance, one precinct northwest of the town of Boone straddles three different districts. The maps create a nearly 10% variance from biggest to smallest district that dilutes the overall voting power of disfavored Watauga residents.

In 2024, members of the Watauga County Board of Commissioners responded to the blatant gerrymander by voting to place a referendum on the 2024 ballot that would allow local voters to choose whether to adopt fair voting maps. The process for doing that is provided to all county commissions under North Carolina law.

Unlike the legislature’s gerrymandered map, the Watauga County Board of Commissioners proposed two at-large seats and three districts drawn under the conditions that:

• the mapmaker could not consider the party affiliation of voters in drawing the new districts

• the districts had to be as equal in population as possible

• the new districts had to be contiguous, so as to not break up communities

In November 2024, Watauga County voters overwhelmingly – 71% to 29% – approved the election structure and voting map developed by their Board of Commissioners. The plan won majority support in every precinct in the county.

But even before that referendum could take place, Senator Hise and his GOP colleagues lashed out at Watauga voters, taking the unprecedented action of pre-emptively blocking the referendum results and delaying implementation of the fair, voter-approved maps until 2034 – a restriction imposed on no other county in North Carolina.

Watauga County voters along with the Watauga County Voting Rights Taskforce and Common Cause North Carolina filed the lawsuit to stop the legislature’s abuse of power.

The lawsuit, Watauga County Voting Rights Task Force v. Watauga County Board of Elections, was filed on Oct. 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

The complaint outlines how the legislature’s actions violate Watauga County voters’ First Amendment rights as well as equal protection of their votes under the 14th Amendment. Sen. Hise and GOP legislators singled out disfavored Watauga County voters, placed illegal burdens on the residents’ right to vote, and discriminated against them based on their viewpoint.

Read the plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction here.

Read the memorandum of law in support of plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction here.

Read the full original complaint from Oct. 1 here.