A three-judge panel in the U.S. District Court (not to be confused with the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals) has ruled against the North Carolina legislative districts, as they violate the Equal Protection Clause, but the 2016 elections will be allowed to proceed with the unconstitutional districts anyway.
This is the third time this year, after February’s ruling on Congressional Districts and and July’s ruling against the Wake County School Board and Board of Commissioner maps, that a federal court has ruled that a Republican-led NCGA redistricting violates the Equal Protection Clause.
Durham City Council member Charlie Reece points out that the judges ruled that the election will proceed with districts that they found to be in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
“A federal court ruling something the Republican-led North Carolina General Assembly did unconstitutional has now become our norm,” Wake County Democratic Party chairman Brian Fitzsimmons told the INDY. “This is another decisive victory for democracy, and further proves how incredibly important it is for people to exercise their right to vote this fall. Things won’t change unless voters make them change.”
You can read the full ruling below. We’ll update as this story develops.
Correction: The title of the uploaded document above originally read “4th Circuit Redistricting Ruling”, which was an error; this ruling was handed down by a three-judge panel on the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of North Carolina.