Democrats are dispersing minority voters, eliminating two majority black districts by claiming voters' clout is limited if they're packed into too few districts.
Republicans say the map harms minority voters by diluting their voice in a way that breaks the law.
The overriding message of this is that politics is what drives redistricting, even when they're talking about race. The parties will bring their arguments before a federal tribunal in Newark for a trial tentatively scheduled to last one day. The judges realize that, if they rule the map illegal, the state will have only a few days to draw a new one before the May 10 candidacy filing deadline. Republicans are bringing the lawsuit in a last-chance attempt to overturn the new map of the state's 40 legislative districts, which was supported by Democrats and the redistricting commission's independent 11th member, Princeton University political scientist Larry Bartels. The map, Republicans say, violates the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act.