A panel of judges ruled Monday that North Carolina's 2020 congressional elections must happen under new maps to correct partisan favor, the News & Observer reports.

Why it matters: The current Republican-drawn maps were ruled as unfair to voters and will head back to the state legislature for redistricting, likely with significant consequences for control of Congress in 2020. The ruling does not require an outside expert to take over the districting process, and no strict deadline was set for the procedure.

It's unclear if Republicans intend to accept or appeal the ruling. After a separate loss last month over state legislature lines, Republicans cooperated and redrew the districts within an allotted two-week period.

But, but, but: While there was no strict deadline set, judges did note that they would delay the state's 2020 primaries if new maps weren't in place.

Go deeper: Supreme Court says partisan gerrymandering "beyond the reach" of federal courts