Plaintiffs in an existing lawsuit against North Carolina's congressional maps amended it Thursday to also challenge new eastern North Carolina districts the General Assembly passed this week.
The amendment to Williams v. Hall makes it the first lawsuit against the redrawn congressional map, which shifts counties between the state's 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts.
Legislative Republicans said they used political data and made the change to give the party a clear advantage in the state's 1st District in response to President Donald Trump's push to use gerrymandering to create safer GOP seats ahead of next year's midterm elections.
But Democrats and plaintiffs in the lawsuit say the new districts will keep Black voters in North Carolina's portion of the Black Belt from choosing a representative of their choice. By moving counties with significant Black populations out of the 1st Congressional District, they allege, legislators are violating the Voting Rights Act.
In Williams v. Hall, voting rights groups were already challenging new congressional districts the General Assembly drew in 2023 and used in the 2024 elections. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of North Carolina.
Originally, the lawsuit was focused on alleged dilution of Black voting power in the Triad and around Charlotte. Arguments in that case took place in June and July, but a verdict had not been issued before the General Assembly tweaked the map again. Attorneys for state legislators are not opposed to the additional filing.
"The 2025 Plan dismantles the Black opportunity district in CD-1 by moving several counties with significant Black populations out of the district and into CD-3, trading them for several primarily white counties, diluting the Black vote in both districts. Under the 2025 Plan, Black voters are extremely unlikely to elect candidates of their choice in either district," the lawsuit's plaintiffs wrote in the amended complaint.
That echoes claims Democrats made this week as the new map, which was released publicly last Thursday, made its way through committees and was passed by Republican majorities in both chambers.
The version of the 1st Congressional District used in the 2024 elections had a voting age population that was about 40% Black, the highest of any district in the state. In electing U.S. Rep. Don Davis, a Black Democrat, the district continued a streak that has been unbroken since 1992.
Under the new map, the 1st Congressional District is made up of about 32% Black voters, while the 3rd District has about 29% Black voters.
"While the newly-configured CD-1 decreases the Democratic voter percentage by approximately 4 points, the (Black voting age population) in CD-1 fell by more than 8 percentage points," the lawsuit said.
It continued, "In other words, (the) 2025 Plan moved Black voters at a far greater rate than Democrats."
Plaintiffs in the case asked the court to find that the new map violates the 14th and 15th amendments, as well as Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. They are asking the court to enjoin the map, preventing it from being used in next year's midterms, and direct the creation of new congressional districts.
Spokeswomen for Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and Speaker of the House Destin Hall, R-Catawba, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Legislative Republicans have insisted the new maps were drawn by accounting for political data, primarily the 2024 Presidential Election. Both state and federal courts have said they are unable to overturn maps drawn to gain partisan advantage.
North Carolina's State Constitution bars legislators from redrawing state legislative districts in the middle of a decade, but federal law allows them to revisit congressional districts. That is typically uncommon without a court order.
In a gaggle with reports Wednesday, Hall said, "The constitution gives the legislature the ability to draw these maps. That's our responsibility to do that. The map that was adopted today was done within the bounds of the law, and that's the way we've done redistricting in this state for about 250 years."
Courts are the only venue in which the maps can be challenged right now. North Carolina's governor, Democrat Josh Stein, does not have the power to veto redistricting proposals.
The amended Williams case will likely not be the sole lawsuit against the new map.
During a press conference outside the Legislative Building on Thursday, civil rights activist Bishop William Barber called the new map "racist" and vowed that a lawsuit would be coming within days.
