RALEIGH The Supreme Court of the United States on Tuesday temporarily blocked a lower court’s mandate that North Carolina hold special 2017 elections after redrawing its state legislative districts.The lower court had ruled the State’s latest Republican-led redistricting efforts represented racial gerrymandering and ordered select districts redrawn and new snap elections to be held. Republican state lawmakers challenged that ruling, and requested a stay from the higher court by filing and emergency petition Tuesday, maintaining that the districts were legal and fair. The district maps were previously approved by the Obama administration and U.S. Department of Justice under attorney general Eric Holder.N.C. House Speaker Rep. Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) and N.C. Senate president Leader Phil Berger applauded the news.”We are grateful the U.S. Supreme Court has quashed judicial activism and rejected an attempt to nullify the votes of North Carolinians in the 2016 legislative elections,” said the legislative leaders in a joint statement.While the U.S. Supreme Court action does not foretell if they will indeed take up the case, it does temporarily block the requirement for 2017 special elections until such time that the case is resolved or the court determines it will not hear the appeal.
