Redistricting: Covington v. North Carolina

Case name: Covington v. North Carolina

What it's about: ​ Redistricting

State or federal court: Federal, U.S. Supreme Court

Summary: The individuals and groups that brought this case contend that state lawmakers illegally relied too much on the race of voters when they drew 19 state House and nine state Senate districts in 2011. Lawmakers said they had no choice but to follow federal voting rights laws and prior U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

In the real world: The U.S. Supreme Court in June 2017 upheld a lower court's ruling that the challenged legislative districts were illegally drawn. But the justices vacated the court order that the state draw new legislative districts and hold a special election in 2017. Elections in 2018 will be held using new maps.

Where it stands: Although lawmakers redrew their voting maps in August 2017, a panel of three federal judges remained concerned that racially gerrymandered districts were eliminated. The judges called in a Stanford University law professor to redraw maps and is weighing which set of maps to approve for the 2018 elections or whether to order lawmakers to take another attempt at drawing maps.