The high court could also create a parallel track and appoint an independent expert to handle the redraw if Republicans produce a revised map that the high court still believes violates residents’ rights under the state constitution to a free election and equal protection under the law. If the maps are rejected and the court sets a new precedent for what constitutes an unlawful gerrymander, the Republican attorneys can ask the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the state court’s ruling from being implemented. But U.S. Supreme Court intervention is widely believed to be the least likely option given that the court determined in 2019 that the issue of whether election maps are gerrymandered, or drawn in a way that is too partisan, cannot be determined by federal courts.