Supreme Court throws out Michigan partisan gerrymandering dispute

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Washington Examiner

The Supreme Court tossed out a lower court ruling that required Michigan lawmakers to redraw state legislative and congressional voting lines.

 

In a win for Michigan Republicans, the high court vacated the ruling from the three-judge panel in federal district court in light of its decision last year in a pair of partisan gerrymandering cases. The justices ruled 5-4 in the disputes out of Maryland and North Carolina that claims of partisan gerrymandering, in which voting maps are drawn to give entrench the party in power, are beyond the reach of the federal courts.

The decision from the Supreme Court, which was split along ideological lines, left in place the district lines drawn by Democrats in Maryland and Republicans in North Carolina.

The three-judge panel in Michigan invalidated the state and congressional lines drawn by the GOP-controlled state legislature, which they deemed in April to be an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.

The court gave lawmakers until Aug. 1 to approve new voting maps.