Pa. Supreme Court orders lower court to render gerrymander lawsuit decision

the league’s lawsuit pending a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a similar case out of Wisconsin.

But the league asked the state’s high court to fast-track the case. In agreeing to do so Thursday, the court employeda power it rarely used.

“They reserve it for cases that are of great public importance,” Ms. McKenzie said. “This is exactly the kind of case that’s meant for the Supreme Court to exercise extraordinary jurisdiction.”

Experts view Pennsylvania as one of the nation’s most gerrymandered states, with congressional and legislative boundaries drawn to partisan advantage.

While Pennsylvania voters are evenly split between theparties, Republicans have 13 of the state’s 18 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Tests suggest the map is intentionally designed to favorRepublicans.

A lawyer representing the state’s General Assembly and its Republican leadership, who are defendants in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. The lawmakers had sought the stay that was overturned.

A spokesman for Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who is named in the lawsuit, said the governor “supports reforms that would remove partisanship and special interests fromthe drawing of districts.”

If the case results in a call for new districts, the Legislature and governor could be ordered to draw them up quickly. That would allow public officials to consider “legitimate” political considerations, Mr. Li said, such as which towns should be grouped together.

Butthat also might prove a difficult task in Harrisburg, where partisan divisions between the Republican Legislature and Democratic governor have hampered even basicgovernance.

One of the courts also could appoint an independent special master to draw up new districts, as has happened in North Carolina, Mr. Li said.