The New Jersey Constitution grants the state supreme court exclusive jurisdiction over challenges to congressional maps, N.J. Const. art. II, § 2, ¶ 7, which the New Jersey Supreme Court has interpreted to include partisan gerrymandering claims, see Matter of Cong. Districts by N.J. Redistricting Comm’n, 268 A.3d 299, 304 (N.J. 2022). The state supreme court has yet to determine whether New Jersey courts also have jurisdiction over partisan gerrymandering challenges to state legislative maps.
To prove a claim for partisan gerrymandering, a plaintiff must show that “the plan is unlawful, or reflects invidious discrimination,” id. at 307 (citing N.J. Const. art. II, § 2, ¶¶ 7, 9; Davenport v. Apportionment Comm’n, 319 A.2d 718, 723 (N.J. 1974)). The court has characterized this as a “stringent standard,” id. at 303, but it has not yet had occasion to flesh out the contours of the inquiry.
No constitutional or statutory provision expressly outlines the process for remedying an illegal partisan gerrymander, and the New Jersey Supreme Court has not had an opportunity to consider a remedy for such a gerrymander since it has yet to find one.