By Steven Shepard @ Politico.com, 05/24/2019 03:36 PM EDT

The Supreme Court on Friday set aside two lower court rulings tossing out congressional maps in Michigan and Ohio, putting the process of redrawing district lines on hold while it prepares to rule on whether or not partisan gerrymandering is constitutional.

Republicans in both Midwestern states had appealed lower-court rulings that their congressional maps had been drawn so egregiously to favor the GOP that they violated the constitutional rights of voters. The Supreme Court already heard arguments in partisan gerrymandering cases from Maryland and North Carolina — and the high court is expected to render a decision next month that could decide what happens in Michigan and Ohio as well.

In both Michigan and Ohio, Republicans drew voting maps after the 2010 census and largely achieved their goal of locking in the gains they had made in the 2010 elections. But the lower courts had ruled that they had violated the 1st and 14th Amendment rights of voters by drawing districts to achieve certain political outcomes [....]