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Page Number: 6.0

Cite as:  600 U. S. ____ (2023) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 
United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to  notify  the  Reporter  of 
Decisions,  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  Washington,  D.  C.  20543, 
pio@supremecourt.gov, of any typographical or other formal errors. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 21–1271 
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TIMOTHY K. MOORE, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS 
SPEAKER OF THE NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE 
OF REPRESENTATIVES, ET AL., PETITIONERS 
v. REBECCA HARPER, ET AL. 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF 
NORTH CAROLINA 

[June 27, 2023] 

CHIEF  JUSTICE  ROBERTS  delivered  the  opinion  of  the 

Court. 

Several groups of plaintiffs challenged North Carolina’s
congressional districting map as an impermissible partisan
gerrymander.    The  plaintiffs  brought  claims  under  North 
Carolina’s Constitution, which provides that “[a]ll elections 
shall be free.”  Art. I, §10.  Relying on that provision, as well 
as  the  State  Constitution’s  equal  protection,  free  speech,
and  free  assembly  clauses,  the  North  Carolina  Supreme 
Court found in favor of the plaintiffs and struck down the 
legislature’s  map.  The  Court  concluded  that  North  Caro-
lina’s  Legislature  deliberately  drew  the  State’s  congres-
sional map to favor Republican candidates. 

In  drawing  the  State’s  congressional  map,  North  Caro-
lina’s  Legislature  exercised  authority  under  the  Elections
Clause  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  which  expressly  re-
quires  “the  Legislature”  of  each  State  to  prescribe  “[t]he 
Times, Places and Manner of ” federal elections.  Art. I, §4, 
cl. 1.  We decide today whether that Clause vests state leg-