Federal court rules on Black voters’ challenge to Eastern North Carolina districts

A federal appeals court on Thursday refused to block the Republican-crafted North Carolina Senate map from taking effect, which a lawsuit argues will dilute the voting power of Black residents.

In a 97-page opinion, a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of a lower court, which ruled in January against the two Black voters bringing the lawsuit.

Judges Allison Rushing and J. Harvie Wilkinson III, both of whom were appointed by Republican presidents, wrote the majority opinion.

In it, they note a longstanding legal precedent that “cautions courts against enjoining state election laws in the period close to an election.”

“With the statewide 2024 senate election underway, candidates and voters alike are now entitled to the stability and sense of repose that engender trust and confidence in our elections,” Rushing wrote.

Judge Roger Gregory, who was originally appointed by a Democratic president, dissented from the majority, writing that the new Senate maps “cracked the state’s Black Belt right down the middle.”

Gregory argued that the precedent did not apply in this case and that there was still time to order remedial maps before the election.

He wrote that the people bringing the case did not have enough time to avoid being so close to the elections, given that the legislature waited until Oct. 25 to enact the new maps — less than two months before candidate filing began.

The court’s decision isn’t the end of this case, though.

Thursday’s order denied plaintiffs a preliminary injunction, but the merits of the case can still be heard in a full trial at the district court level.

“The denial of preliminary relief is just that: preliminary,” Rushing wrote. “It may be that with discovery and further factual development, plaintiffs can prove that these two Senate districts violate Section 2 of the (Voting Rights Act) and they are entitled to a majority-minority district in northeastern North Carolina.”

However, further delays in the case reduce the likelihood that plaintiffs will receive a favorable judgment before the November general election.

The lawsuit, originally filed in November, argued that the new map split up Black voters between two new Senate districts in the northeastern part of the state.

In January, a district court judge refused to block the map, saying that plaintiffs weren’t likely to succeed in showing the map violated the Voting Rights Act. He also wrote that granting an injunction so close to an election could “come with extraordinary cost, confusion, and hardship.”

Plaintiffs appealed to the 4th Circuit, which heard arguments in the case in February.