Dozens of Democrats and advocacy groups challenging the new Republican-drawn maps for the state's legislative and congressional districts want judges to delay the state's May 8 primary by two months while their lawsuits wind through the courts.
The primary should be pushed back to July 10, the plaintiffs have argued in documents filed in Wake County court. They contend the maps drawn last year for elections from now through 2020 are illegal because they cross too many county lines and use racial considerations without good reason.
The two lawsuits allege that the district lines illegally cluster black voters to dilute their electoral power and split too many precincts, leading to disorder and re-segregated communities. The plaintiffs have now asked the judges to hold a hearing as early as Friday to consider whether to prevent the maps from being used. The candidate filing period begins next month.
Among the plaintiffs is state Sen. Linda Garrou. Under the proposed maps, Garrou would be drawn out of Forsyth County's 32nd District, which she currently represents. A message left for Garrou was not returned Monday night.
Attorneys for those challenging the new districts say delaying the primary would ensure that voters don't choose elected representatives under a system they see as constitutionally flawed.
"Once elections take place under an unconstitutional system, it is impossible to go back and restore plaintiffs, voters, candidates and elected officials back to the place where they would have been if elections did not occur," states a motion seeking a preliminary injunction to postpone the primary. The request was written late Friday and signed by attorneys Anita Earls and Eddie Speas.
Attorneys representing the state and GOP legislative leaders contend the district boundaries were drawn legally and meet the requirements of the state and federal constitutions and the U.S. Voting Rights Act. They hadn't responded Monday to the preliminary injunction motion.
A hearing on the state's motion to dismiss the consolidated lawsuits is scheduled for Thursday.
Delaying a primary is not uncommon in North Carolina. Redistricting litigation caused the 2002 primary to be delayed until Sept. 10 and the 2004 primary until July 20. Candidate filing periods also were delayed.
In the motion's proposal, the current candidate filing period scheduled for Feb. 13-29 would be pushed back to April 27-May 7. Any runoff election also would be pushed back to Aug. 28. The primary could be delayed to Aug. 28 if needed, but the runoff would be eliminated, the attorneys wrote.
Runoff elections occur when the leading candidate in a race doesn't receive more than 40 percent of the vote in a primary. The runoff was eliminated in 2002.
A delay would throw into doubt the date of a constitutional referendum on an amendment that would ban same-sex marriage and civil unions in North Carolina. That amendment question is set for the May 8 primary. The Republican presidential primary also is set for that day. In 2004, the state Democratic Party held its own presidential primary caucus at more than 100 sites statewide in April when the May primary was delayed.
Any schedule change would have to be cleared by federal attorneys or a federal court to ensure it doesn't harm the rights of minority voters.
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