North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls brought a hard-edged message about voting maps to a decidedly soft setting Friday, telling voters in Charlotte that the court should return to its 2022 ruling that found extreme partisan gerrymandering violates the state constitution. She argued that reviving that standard would protect North Carolinians from either party drawing maps that lock in political power. The remarks came as Earls campaigned ahead of her November reelection, with one of her stops at Manolo's Bakery on Central Avenue.
Speaking during the campaign visit, Earls said the court's 2022 decision laid out "neutral criteria" to evaluate political maps. As reported by WFAE, she warned that "if it was an extreme partisan gerrymander, it would violate North Carolinians' rights."
Backstory: The 2022 ruling and the court-drawn map
In February 2022, the North Carolina Supreme Court in Harper v. Hall held that extreme partisan gerrymanders can violate the state constitution and ordered new lines. As outlined by Justia, the court replaced the legislature's plan and appointed a special master to redraw congressional districts. The court-drawn remedial map produced a 7–7 split in the state's U.S. House delegation in 2022, according to ABC News.
What changed: New court majority and a GOP-friendly map
About a year after the Harper ruling, Republicans secured a majority on the state Supreme Court and began overturning earlier decisions that had blocked partisan maps. Legislators later approved a congressional plan that gives Republicans an advantage in 11 of North Carolina's 14 U.S. House seats, a shift that has prompted protests and likely court challenges, as reported by WRAL.
Earls argued that the 2022 standard would limit any extreme map, regardless of which party draws it, and said she would need to "look at the data" before weighing in on a Democratic-leaning plan, according to WFAE. She is running for reelection against Republican state Rep. Sarah Stevens, a race that The News & Observer notes will be closely watched for what it could mean for the court's balance.
The stakes are high because the court's approach will decide whether judges in Raleigh can strike down maps that entrench one party. Earls has framed the fight as a safeguard for voters' rights rather than a partisan maneuver. With intense map battles underway across the country, her push to reinstate the 2022 standard turns judicial independence and the balance of power into central issues on North Carolina ballots this fall.
