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Cite as:  588 U. S. ____ (2019) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to 
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington,  D. C.  20543,  of  any  typographical  or  other  formal  errors,  in  order
that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

Nos. 18–422, 18–726 
_________________ 

18–422 

ROBERT A. RUCHO, ET AL., APPELLANTS 
v. 
COMMON CAUSE, ET AL.; AND 

ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR 
THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA 

18–726 

LINDA H. LAMONE, ET AL., APPELLANTS 
v. 
O. JOHN BENISEK, ET AL. 

ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR 
THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

 [June 27, 2019]

 CHIEF  JUSTICE  ROBERTS  delivered  the  opinion  of  the

Court. 

Voters and other plaintiffs in North Carolina and Mary-
land  challenged  their  States’  congressional  districting
maps  as  unconstitutional  partisan  gerrymanders.    The 
North  Carolina  plaintiffs  complained  that  the  State’s 
districting  plan  discriminated  against  Democrats;  the 
Maryland  plaintiffs  complained  that  their  State’s  plan
discriminated against Republicans.  The plaintiffs alleged
that  the  gerrymandering  violated  the  First  Amendment, 
the  Equal  Protection  Clause  of  the  Fourteenth  Amend-
ment,  the  Elections  Clause,  and  Article  I,  §2,  of  the  Con-
stitution.  The District Courts in both cases ruled in favor