RICHMOND, Va. (AP)- A panel of judges has given final approval to a redrawn map for the Virginia House of Delegates in a protracted racial gerrymandering case.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the panel's 2-1 ruling Thursday ordered the state to adopt a map created by a court-appointed special master.
The redrawn map was submitted last month by University of California Irvine political science professor Bernard Grofman. The map could help shift six Republican-held districts toward Democrats and increase the Democratic Party's chances of gaining control of the House in this year's elections.
The judges ordered a new map in June after ruling that lawmakers had racially gerrymandered eleven House districts by packing black voters into them.
Republicans are appealing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Arguments are scheduled for next month.
