Election-Map Challenges to Test Fine Line Between Race, Politics

State legislators’ redrawing of electoral maps after each Census to secure as many seats as possible for the party in power is almost as old as the U.S. itself.

But the effort that began last week after the release of the latest population data will be different, as the first since Supreme Court decisions that the U.S. Department of Justice no longer has the right to vet the new maps, and that partisan gerrymandering claims aren’t subject to federal court review.

With the Census data showing that population growth since 2010 has been largely driven by minorities, particularly Hispanics, election ...