The Democrats’ election agenda just hit a roadblock in North Carolina.
The North Carolina Supreme Court voted 5-2 to rehear redistricting and voter ID cases that the previously Democrat-dominated court decided.
This comes after Republicans got a majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court in January.
The rehearing might allow for the voter ID mandate to be reinstated as well as Republican-drawn maps that were shut down by the prior ruling.
The new Republican majority on North Carolina’s Supreme Court agreed on Friday to rehear redistricting and voter identification cases less than two months after the court’s previous edition, led by Democrats, issued major opinions going against GOP legislators who had been sued.
The extraordinary decisions, granted in orders backed by five justices with the Republican voter registrations on the seven-member court, mean the issues will return to the court for oral arguments in mid-March. With hopes of getting new legal results, lawmakers led by House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger asked two weeks ago that the justices rehear the litigation.
…
The GOP lawmakers’ attorneys contend the previous 4-3 Democratic majority got it wrong in December when they struck down a state Senate map the legislature drew and upheld congressional boundaries drawn by trial judges but opposed by Republicans. They said those same Democrats erred when upholding the invalidation of a 2018 law requiring photo identification to vote when they applied the wrong legal standard.
The rehearings ultimately could lead to new opinions that reinstate the photo ID mandate and strike down precedent from the Supreme Court in February 2022 declaring the state constitution outlawed extensive partisan gerrymandering. That landmark redistricting ruling prevented maps drawn by Republican legislators that were expected to secure long-term Republican advantages in the General Assembly and within the state’s congressional delegation.
This is a massive win for Republicans.
In the Congress elected in 2020, there were 5 Democrats and 8 Republicans elected from North Carolina.
In the Congress elected in 2022, there were 7 Democrats and 7 Republicans elected from North Carolina (North Carolina gained a seat after 2020 census).
The change could allow for 4 more GOP congressmen.
Amazing news!