The Supreme Court has refused the request by Pennsylvania Republicans to block redrawing the congressional map until after the 2018 state elections, writes Robert Barnes for The Washington Post.

Monday’s decision follows last month’s ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. It found that leaders of the state Republican legislative violated the Pennsylvania Constitution by unfairly favoring the GOP in drawing the congressional map.

At present, despite registered Democrats outnumbering registered Republicans in the state, Republicans hold 13 of the 18 congressional seats.

GOP leaders turned to the U.S. Supreme Court to get a stay of the decision. But Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. turned down the request without referring the case on to his colleagues.

No reason was given for the decision, but the Supreme Court usually stays out of situations where the state’s highest court is interpreting its own constitution.

The decision could end up helping Democrats flip the House. Currently, Democrats need around twenty-four seats to win the majority.

Pennsylvania could secure some of those seats as five Republican incumbents are not planning to run again this fall.

Read more about the issue at The Washington Post here, and check out previous VISTA Today coverage of gerrymandering here.