A federal appeals court ruled North Carolina must hold special elections in November 2017 for General Assembly seats in unconstitutionally gerrymandered districts. The Legislature will need to redraw districts by mid-March, and legislators recently elected from the affected districts will have their terms shortened to one year from the usual two-year term.

Earlier this year, the court ruled the affected 28 districts unconstitutional, but allowed the 2016 election to continue under the old maps. This new order settles the issue of whether the new districts would take effect for the regular 2018 election or if a special election would be necessary.