Supreme Court rejects NC redistricting

by Jonathan Easley - 04/20/15 12:02 PM ET

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a Republican-drawn map of congressional districts in North Carolina.

The justices ordered the state court to reconsider whether North Carolina lawmakers inappropriately redrew the electoral map to consign large populations of black voters, a Democratic constituency, to a disproportionately small number of districts, according to The Associated Press.

{mosads}Last month, the Supreme Court issued a similar ruling in Alabama, after Democrats in the state complained that districts redrawn in the aftermath of the 2010 census relied too heavily on race.

The Supreme Court cited the Alabama ruling in its determination that North Carolina must take another look at whether lawmakers unfairly gerrymandered district lines in the Tar Heel State.

The wave election in 2010 gave the GOP control of statehouses across the country, and with it the chance to redraw maps in the once-a-decade redistricting process that occurred in 2011.

The new maps were critical to GOP successes in swing states such as North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Florida. President Obama won each of those states at least once.

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Earlier this year, Democrats launched a new super-PAC to help win control of state legislatures and lay the groundwork for them to take back the House after the 2020 redistricting process.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee launched Advantage 2020 and an accompanying super-PAC, headed by former Rep. Mark Schauer (D-Mich.), who lost to Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) last year in a hard-fought race.

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