The following is an excerpt. Continue reading here: www.washingtontimes.com

The Supreme Court announced Friday it would take up a second partisan gerrymandering case this term after hearing one earlier this year from the state of Wisconsin. The court will hear the challenge brought by seven Republicans in Maryland’s sixth congressional district, who say Maryland lawmakers diluted Republican votes when they redrew the district map in 2011. A lower court ruled against them, saying there wasn’t evidence of an effective gerrymander.

It will be the second partisan gerrymandering case the high court justices consider this term. “Turnout for Republican primary elections, for example, has dropped by as much as one-third throughout the district,” the plaintiffs argue, suing Maryland state officials including the state’s administrator of elections.

The following is an excerpt from usatoday.com

The cases are different in at least four respects: Wisconsin Democrats are challenging the entire statewide map of state Assembly districts based in part on the Constitution’s equal protection clause. Maryland Republicans are challenging a single Democratic congressional district based solely on the First Amendment.

Both cases offer the court examples of partisan gerrymandering — purposeful line-drawing by state lawmakers to maximize their political party’s strength in Congress and state legislatures and weaken their opponents’.