Trial judges dismiss North Carolina redistricting lawsuit over right to 'fair elections'

North Carolina trial judges have dismissed a lawsuit challenging redrawn legislative and congressional district lines on the argument that they run afoul of an indirect constitutional right to “fair elections.” The judges wrote this week that a recent affirmation by the state Supreme Court that redistricting policy decisions are left to the General Assembly still applies. The Superior Court judges threw out the complaint filed in January by several voters that attempts to control redistricting through a different tack. The dismissal order can be appealed. The lawsuit is one of several challenging congressional and legislative maps approved last fall by the GOP-dominated legislature and that favor Republicans.