RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — New legislative district maps that North Carolina lawmakers approved last month eliminate any unlawful racial bias federal judges ruled was in previous maps and should be permitted for use in the 2018 elections, Republican legislators who helped draw them argued Friday. Lawyers for the GOP leaders filed a court brief disputing arguments from voters who successfully overturned the original General Assembly maps and who are now contending the new ones also must be redone because they still contain a dozen districts that are illegal and unconstitutional.