A panel of judges for the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled [order, PDF] Tuesday that despite finding North Carolina’s electoral map to be unconstitutional [opinion, PDF] last week, they will allow it to be used in the upcoming November election.

The court stated in its initial opinion that it had enjoined the state from using its 2016 Congressional Redistricting Plan after the November election on the grounds that it constituted “an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the First Amendment and Article I of the Constitution” [LII materials]. The court granted the involved parties until August 31 to submit briefs addressing whether the court should allow the map to be used in the upcoming election.

After reviewing the parties’ supporting materials, panel of judges concluded “that there is insufficient time for [the] Court to approve a new districting plan and for the state to conduct an election using that plan prior to the seating of the new Congress in January 2019.” Additionally, the court found that implementing a new voting plan before November would confuse voters and interfere with voter turnout.

As this is the third time North Carolina’s voting maps have been found unconstitutional [JURIST report], the court also requested that the involved parties provide briefs on whether the General Assembly should be granted another opportunity to draw a fair voting plan. That issue was interrupted when the Legislative defendants filed an appeal [notice, PDF] to the US Supreme Court [official website] on Friday.