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Legislators Approve Court-Ordered Redrawn District Maps, Now Await Word from Federal Judges

By Jesse Wood

The Republican led N.C. House (68-47) and the N.C. Senate (30-15) approved new district maps for the House and Senate on Wednesday. Now that they’ve beat the court-imposed Sept. 1 deadline, legislators are waiting to see what a panel of three federal judges has to say about the newly redrawn maps.

Earlier this year, a federal court ordered state House and Senate district maps to be redrawn because districts created after the 2010 census were found to be unconstitutional gerrymanders.

“The General Assembly now must send the approved maps and related data and explanation to a panel of three federal judges by late next week. The judges could sign off on the maps for the 2018 elections or order more changes, draw their own maps or send them to an outside expert for redrawing if they don’t believe GOP mapmakers fixed them correctly,” according to an Associated Press report on WRAL.

These maps aren’t subject to a veto from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

The courts ordered 28 districts – 19 in the House and 8 in the Senate – to be redrawn. The House districts in the High Country led by Rep. Jonathan Jordan and Rep. Josh Dobson would remain the same under the redrawn maps, while District 45 (Sen. Deanna Ballard) in the N.C. Senate would include Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes and a portion of Surry County instead of the currently composition of Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell and Mitchell.

Below are the redrawn maps: