New York Times: Justices Display Divisions in New Cases on Voting Maps Warped by Politics

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court returned to the subject of partisan gerrymandering on Tuesday, appearing largely divided along ideological lines as it considered for a second time in two years whether drawing election maps to help the party in power ever violates the Constitution.

Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, the court’s newest member and the one who may possess the decisive vote, expressed uneasiness about the practice.

“Extreme partisan gerrymandering is a real problem for our democracy,” he said. “I’m not going to dispute that.”

He added, though, that recent developments around the nation — including state ballot initiatives establishing independent redistricting commissions, proposed legislation in Congress and State Supreme Court rulings — may make action from the United States Supreme Court less necessary. …

Like Justice Kavanaugh, Justice Gorsuch cited recent ballot initiatives creating nonpartisan redistricting commissions as a reason for the Supreme Court to hold its fire.

A lawyer for one set of challengers in the North Carolina case, Emmet J. Bondurant II, said such initiatives were not a complete answer. “The vast majority of states east of the Mississippi, including specifically North Carolina,” he said, “do not have citizen initiatives.”