WASHINGTON — North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature, under a court order to throw out its gerrymandered congressional map, on Friday enacted a new one that effectively gives the party eight of the state’s 13 congressional seats instead of the 10 it had before. The impasse means there will be at least one more chapter in one of the nation’s most intense and substantial explorations of the politics of drawing district lines in a deeply polarized time. And it comes under an intense deadline. The court said in its October ruling that a new map had to be prepared in time for primary elections in 2020, and reserved the right to delay preparations for those elections if more time was needed. Lawyers for the Democratic plaintiffs asked the judges to move rapidly to scrap the new district map, suggesting that the court hear arguments on the issue on Dec. 2 — the first day of the filing period for candidates in North Carolina’s primary elections for House seats.

Source: New York Times November 16, 2019 00:22 UTC