Common Cause, the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, and Black Carolinians have filed a federal lawsuit challenging racially discriminatory voting maps in North Carolina. The lawsuit comes on the heels of the North Carolina legislature redrawing the state’s voting maps in October 2023 to severely diminish the voting power of Black voters in the state.
The federal lawsuit calls for new congressional and state legislative districts that respect the constitutional rights of Black voters in North Carolina. Southern Coalition for Social Justice and Hogan Lovells are representing the plaintiffs in the case.
The complaint, filed December 2023, alleges various harms across both state legislative maps and the congressional map:
- Unconstitutional intentional discrimination against Black voters in the state Senate, state House, and Congressional maps;
- Vote dilution in violation of the Voting Rights Act in North Carolina’s Black Belt in both the State and House maps;
- Intentional vote dilution of Black electoral power in Congressional Districts 1, 5, 6, and 10;
- Racial gerrymandering in Senate Districts 7 and 8; and
- Violation of one-person, one-vote in the Senate and House maps.
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