(upbeat music) - I'm Starla Sampaco in the Crosscut KCTS9 newsroom.

The Washington Supreme Court will draw new political lines that will shape a decade of politics.

For the first time ever, Washington state's bipartisan redistricting commission failed to agree on new boundaries for the state's legislative and congressional districts.

The commission said the late release of the 2020 census data, combined with technical challenges, hampered their work, and now the state Supreme Court has until April 30th to decide on a new redistricting plan.

Redistricting happens every 10 years, following the release of new population data from the US census.

At its core, the process is about ensuring that all political districts have equal population, but the redrawing of district lines also shapes which political party has the advantage in a given district, as well as whether the votes of certain communities, like communities of color, gets split and diluted.

I'm Starla Sampaco.

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