PLAINTIFFS SAY IT'S TOO LATE TO DRAW NEW MAPS BY NOVEMBER ELECTION: It's too late to redraw North Carolina's congressional map before this year's elections, a legal team that has tried for two years to change that map said Friday in a key legal brief that could clear away some of the confusion clouding the state's coming election season. Attorneys for Common Cause and the League of Women Voters "reluctantly concluded" in a brief filed Friday that trying to redraw the districts now would be "disruptive and potentially counterproductive." Instead the court should force a redraw of the map before the next election cycle, Common Cause and the LWV argued. That should be handled by an outside expert commonly called a "special master," they said, instead of allowing the General Assembly to draw the map for a third time.
https://www.wral.com/groups-challenging-nc-s-congressional-map-don-t-change-it-before-november/17810...

JUDGE RULES AGAINST BERGERMOORE IN BOARD APPOINTMENTS CASE: A three-judge panel has expanded Gov. Roy Cooper’s authority to make certain appointments, the latest step in a separation-of-powers struggle that began when then-Gov. Pat McCrory sued the General Assembly in 2016. The three state Superior Court judges in a ruling filed Friday noted that the Supreme Court in the lawsuit brought by McCrory said the General Assembly had overstepped its authority. Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, who are defendants in the lawsuit, also unsuccessfully asked the judges to delay any ruling in the case until after the Nov. 6 election, when proposed constitutional amendments will be voted on. They argued that the outcome “would have an obvious impact” on Cooper’s lawsuit, according to the ruling.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article217667050.html

3 JUDGE PANEL WILL HOLD HEARING TODAY ON RENEWED CHALLENGE TO GOP AMENDMENTS: Gov. Roy Cooper has asked the court to keep the state from finalizing ballots that include a pair of amendments to shift appointment powers from his office to the General Assembly. The Republican legislative majority backs the amendments, which were rewritten in a recent special session to satisfy the court after the judges agreed with Cooper that their initial language was too misleading to go before voters. The Cooper administration argued in a complaint filed Thursday that the new language voters would see on the November ballot remains unfair. "They are false," the filing states. "They are misleading. They are incomplete. And they are argumentative. Ultimately, these ballot questions do not fairly advise the voters of what is at stake or facilitate an intelligent, independent decision on the proposed amendments."
https://www.wral.com/court-hearing-friday-on-constitutional-amendments-ballot/17807094/

REPUBLICANS VOW TO TAKE THEIR GERRYMANDERED MAPS TO SUPREME COURT: The U.S. Supreme Court should quickly rule against a lower court that on Monday found North Carolina’s Congressional districts are illegally gerrymandered, the state’s top legislators said Tuesday afternoon. “In yesterday’s decision, the three-judge panel forecasted voiding the results of primaries and canceling the November election for Congress,” their statement said. “Such an action would irreparably disrupt campaigns from both major parties across the state that have been organizing, raising money and trying to win over voters.” Janet Hoy, co-president of the N.C. League of Women Voters, said Tuesday that “we will continue the fight for equal representation through fair maps” — even at the Supreme Court, which has taken strong positions against racial gerrymandering but has so far punted on the question of partisan gerrymandering.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article217455890.html

NC SENATE BACK IN SESSION TODAY FOR AMENDMENT REWRITE SHENANIGANS: The state Senate planned Monday to debate and vote on a pair of amendments aimed at complying with a ruling by judges last week. The judges said the referenda attached to the amendments lawmakers passed in June failed to explain suitably what changes would occur if voters approved them. Republican lawmakers called a special session last Friday, when the House voted for the replacement amendments. Both amendments would shift powers from the executive branch to the legislature, although the scope of one amendment was scaled back in the latest versions. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper sued over the previous amendments and says the new ones remain "dishonest and dangerous."
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article217383080.html