The justices appear to have split, 7-2, in deciding to put on hold the ruling that tossed out North Carolina's congressional map as "an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander" in favor of Republicans. | Win McNamee/Getty Images Supreme Court blocks order to redraw North Carolina congressional map

The Supreme Court has blocked a lower court's order requiring North Carolina's legislature to redraw the state's congressional district boundaries for this year's elections.

The justices appear to have split, 7-2, in deciding to put on hold the ruling that tossed out the state's map as "an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander" in favor of Republicans. The map will likely remain in effect for the 2018 midterm elections.


Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, two Democratic appointees who are considered the court's most liberal justices, recorded their dissent. However, none of the justices released a statement explaining their rationale.

The Supreme Court's move does not necessarily mean it will hear arguments in the case. The justices are currently considering a case out of Wisconsin that raises the issue of partisan gerrymandering and whether it can be so severe that it violates voters' constitutional rights. The apparent, 7-2 split by the justices Thursday could mean that they are reluctant to upend the status quo in North Carolina before the high court attempts to clarify the legal question through the Wisconsin case.

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At arguments on that case in October, the court appeared to be sharply divided. No ruling has been issued, but one is expected by June.

After groundbreaking rulings, the court often sends a batch of cases involving similar issues back to lower courts for another look under the newly-enunciated legal standard.

The stay request the high court granted Thursday was made by several Republican leaders of the North Carolina legislature. The state's Democratic Party, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters and others who sued over the congressional map urged the justices to leave in place the ruling issued earlier this month by a three-judge panel consisting of a Barack Obama appointee, a Jimmy Carter appointee and an appointee of George W. Bush.

Regardless of the legal issues at stake, most of the justices appear reluctant to disrupt the electoral process in the weeks or months leading up to a vote.

With the primary set for May 8 and the filing deadline at the end of next month, North Carolina officials argued it would be chaotic and unfair to begin moving boundaries they set nearly two years ago. Lawmakers also complained that the lower court gave them only two weeks to come up with a new map.

The lower court ruling said GOP leaders' improperly considered partisan vote history in redrawing the lines two years ago to comply with a court ruling that struck down the previous map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The map, the court ruled, was drawn to ensure Republicans controlled 10 of the state's 13 House seats, despite the fact the state is divided roughly equally between voters who typically prefer Democrats, and those who prefer Republicans.