The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a challenge to maps drawn by Republicans for state legislative and congressional district boundaries in Michigan. The Democratic voters who filed the lawsuit argued that the Republican-drawn voting maps would unduly weaken Democratic representation in the state.
Handed down on Monday, the partisan gerrymandering ruling is the latest Supreme Court ruling to the redistricting reformers who advocate for fair voting districts that don’t provide an advantage to any political party. In June, the justices ruled in cases involving Maryland and North Carolina that partisan gerrymandering is an issue for state, not federal, courts to police. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court threw out a similar case in Ohio.
The high court’s ruling voids an April order by a three-judge panel for Michigan politicians to redraw 25 state legislative and nine U.S. House districts.