Hours after the federal Supreme Court let Alabama keep in place a congressional map that a lower court found in violation of the Voting Rights Act, Ohio’s Supreme Court struck down for a second time its state map on gerrymandering grounds.
The Ohio court ordered its legislature to try a third time to redraw its district lines. The ruling came just days after the high court in North Carolina similarly rejected its state’s congressional map and ordered boundaries redrawn.
With more than 20 redistricting cases still pending, any other orders to redraw congressional maps are likely to emerge from state courts, after the Supreme Court seemingly bowed out in Monday’s decision on Alabama. There, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, in a concurring opinion, argued against redrawing the state’s map because there wasn’t enough time before its May 24 primary.
