Brett Kavanaugh could decide how redistricting is done

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Fairfield Daily Republic
Expert

Kavanaugh will be the center of attention when the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in March about congressional maps in North Carolina and Maryland. He is expected to have the pivotal vote in the cases that could curtail how states use politics to draw legislative and congressional districts — or leave them free to be even more partisan in the future.

“You sort of hope that maybe he’ll see the situation and say that the country needs help on this one, it’s a bad situation and it’s clearly unconstitutional,” said Paul Smith, a veteran Supreme Court litigator who argued one of the cases before the justices last term and represents voters in the North Carolina challenge in his role at the Campaign Legal Center.

But the idea of independent commissions is enjoying some popularity now. Almost three times as many likely 2020 voters — 60 percent versus 23 percent — would rather have an independent commission draw lines than the state legislature, according to a January poll of likely voters commissioned by the Campaign Legal Center.

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