The new Republican majority on North Carolina’s Supreme Court agreed on Friday to rehear redistricting and voter I.D. cases. Just two months ago, the court, then led by Democrats, issued major opinions going against GOP legislators in these cases.
The court previously ruled that photo I.D. requirements for voting and that Republican drawn state senate districts violated the state constitution.
Two new Republican justices took office in early January after winning November elections that flipped seats held by Democrats.
Two weeks ago, Republican lawmakers asked the court to rehear the cases. All 5 of the Republican justices signed on to the rehearings.
The two Democratic justices said the order to rehear stood against more than 200 years of court history in which rehearings have been rare. In a dissenting opinion, Associate Justice Anite Earls wrote “The legal issues are the same; the evidence is the same; and the controlling law is the same. The only thing that has changed is the political composition of the Court.”
The redistricting and voter I.D. cases will return before the court in March.
