Democracy hanging by a thread

The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down state House and Senate redistricting maps drawn by the GOP in a 4-3 decision, ruling that they do not meet constitutional standards against partisan gerrymandering.

[...]

The Ohio Constitution requires the districts to favor political parties in a manner that closely corresponds to the statewide voter preferences shown over the previous 10 years.

The state House map favored Republicans with 67 seats to 32 Democratic seats, while the state Senate map favored Republicans with 23 seats to 10 Democratic seats, according to the court.

However, the court noted: “All parties agreed that in statewide partisan elections over the past decade, Republican candidates had won 54 percent of the vote share and Democratic candidates had won 46 percent of the vote share.”

[...]

The court found that the Ohio Redistricting Commission drew districts in a way that might may not represent the preferences of voters statewide.

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The Redistricting Commission must now redraw the maps to conform with the Ohio Constitution and again submit them for the state Supreme Court review.

The maps are set be used for 2022 elections, including the May 3 primaries.

A lawsuit against the GOP-drawn maps was filed by the League of Women Voters of Ohio, the A. Philip Randolph Institute of Ohio, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and individual voters.

  The Hill

Meanwhile, in North Carolina...

A North Carolina trial court dealt a setback to Democrats on Tuesday when it declined to strike down GOP-drawn congressional and legislative maps that had been challenged as illegal partisan gerrymanders.

The ruling is the latest in a flurry of litigation and court orders muddying North Carolina’s 2022 elections — and leaving its political future for the next decade in limbo. The Democratic-aligned plaintiffs who brought the suit immediately said they will appeal to the state Supreme Court, where their party has a narrow majority.

  Politico

There's not supposed to be a party affiliation in the courts.

In a 260-page ruling, three judges from the Wake County Superior Court wrote that redistricting was an inherently political process and that maps drawn for partisan gain did not violate the state constitution.

Sounds like there needs to be an amendment to the North Carolina constitution.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.