Moore: NC Republicans considering a US Supreme Court appeal in redistricting

House Speaker Tim Moore said in a radio interview Tuesday that the legislature will work on new redistricting maps as the state Supreme Court required, and that Republicans are also considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a 4-3 order, the state Supreme Court struck down Republican legislators’ redistricting plans. A majority on the court ordered new congressional and legislative districts because plans Republicans approved last year violate the state constitution. All three Republican justices dissented.

The state Supreme Court order gave the legislature until February 18 to submit new plans to a panel of three Supreme Court judges for review. Other parties in the case can also submit proposed redistricting plans.

Experts for groups that challenged the legislature’s redistricting plans said the maps could rarely, if ever, be reproduced by computers, and were so skewed in Republicans’ favor that the GOP could keep sizable majorities that defied changing political climates.

Moore told talk radio show host Pete Kaliner said legislators would “work to try to do something we think the court would uphold,” and that Republicans are considering an appeal to the nation’s highest court.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday put on hold a lower federal court ruling that Alabama’s congressional map should have two districts where Black voters are able to elect the candidate of their choice, rather than just one of those districts as Alabama legislature created.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Alabama decision “emboldened our case,” Moore said in the radio interview. “They recognize the constitutional authority and responsibility of the legislature to draw those maps.”

Also on Tuesday, the three-judge panel said they would hire an expert, called a special master, to evaluate replacement redistricting plans and help develop maps that will comply with the state Supreme Court order.