Washington (CNN) The Supreme Court has agreed to revisit two cases that could revolutionize how electoral maps are drawn.

The cases concern how far states can go in drawing district lines for partisan gain. The justices have never established a standard to resolve extreme partisan gerrymanders, and on Friday, they announced they will hear two cases on the issue, from North Carolina and Maryland. Arguments will be heard in March.

The justices have long said that some partisan gerrymandering may be so extreme that it violates constitutional rights, but they have never been able to develop a standard for such cases.

The issue of extreme partisan gerrymandering is highly divisive. Conservatives, like Chief Justice John Roberts, have suggested the courts steer clear of such political disputes altogether, while liberals, like Justice Elena Kagan, contend that courts should be able to articulate a standard to combat a practice that they believe enables politicians to entrench themselves in power against the will of the people.

"Just last year, the justices refused to step into the middle of the debate over partisan gerrymandering, finding ways to avoid ruling on the merits of a pair of cases arising out of Wisconsin and Maryland," said Steve Vladeck, a CNN Supreme Court analyst who's a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. "The question is whether anything has changed such that we should expect something different in the two new cases the court is going to hear in March."

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