Supreme Court agrees lawmakers relied on race in NC redistricting

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has struck down two congressional districts in North Carolina because race played too large a role in their creation.

[READ: Supreme Court opinion on NC redistricting]

The justices ruled Monday that Republicans who controlled the state legislature and governor's office in 2011 placed too many African-Americans in congressional districts 1 and 12 . The result was to weaken African-American voting strength elsewhere in North Carolina.

Supreme Court justice Elena Kagan issued the opinion on the decision.

"Uncontested evidence in the record shows that the State’s mapmakers, in considering District 1, purposefully established a racial target: African-Americans should make up no less than a majority of the voting-age population," Kagain wrote. "Senator Rucho and Representative Lewis were not coy in expressing that goal."

Governor Cooper shared the following statement on the Supreme Court decision:

"North Carolina voters deserve a level playing field and fair elections, and I’m glad the Supreme Court agrees. The North Carolina Republican legislature tried to rig Congressional elections by drawing unconstitutional districts that discriminated against African Americans, and that's wrong."

Both districts have since been redrawn and the state conducted elections under the new congressional map in 2016.

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Associated Press