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“This is a precedent-setting decision that says partisan gerrymandering is unlawful,” Phillips said. “We have had a deeply flawed process and deeply flawed maps.”

This past week, the people of North Carolina won a historic victory in the decades-long fight against gerrymandering.

The ruling affects both the maps for congressional districts and for the state Senate and House. The court found that the maps were designed to allow Republicans to expand — some cases significantly — their electoral advantage in Washington and Raleigh.

“The legislative majority acted to entrench itself, firewalling itself from losing power even if voter preferences dramatically change,” said Allison Riggs, an attorney representing Common Cause NC, one of the plaintiffs in the case.

"We look forward to taking our case to the state Supreme Court," said Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, which is one of the groups challenging the maps. "We are confident that the people of North Carolina will ultimately prevail in our fight for fair maps."

Voting rights groups said they would file an appeal immediately. One, Common Cause North Carolina, said the plaintiffs had presented “overwhelming evidence” that the maps were stacked to favor Republicans. “The evidence clearly showed that Republican legislative leaders brazenly ignored legal requirements designed to protect voting rights for Black North Carolinians,” the group’s executive director, Bob Phillips, said in a statement. “If allowed to stand, these extreme gerrymanders would cause profound and lasting harm to the people of our state.”