North Carolina judges grapple with defining ‘fair’ elections in redistricting suit

By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina judges are deciding whether a redistricting lawsuit claiming a state constitutional right to “fair” elections can go to trial. On Thursday, a panel of trial judges questioned lawyers for voters who sued over some congressional and legislative district boundaries and for Republican legislative leaders who helped enact them. The voters’ attorney says the legal arguments are different from cases that led to a 2023 state Supreme Court ruling that found judges lacked authority to declare redistricting maps are illegal partisan gerrymanders. The GOP leaders’ lawyer disagreed. The judges didn’t immediately rule on a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.