The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed Monday a lower court ruling allowing Mississippi lawmakers to run in their current districts this year. The justices rejected an appeal from the Mississippi NAACP.

The Mississippi Legislature did not pass a redistricting plan
this year. The 122 Mississippi House districts and 52 Senate
districts are updated after every census to reflect population
changes and to uphold the constitutional principle of one person, one vote.

When redistricting failed, the state chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People sued. But a three-judge federal panel said the state either had to immediately redraw the lines or let lawmakers run in their current districts in 2011.

“This means our Mississippi Constitution controls the election of our Representatives,” said Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann. “The Supreme Court has affirmed what I have long contended, we should follow the State Constitution and protect our state’s right to redistrict our legislature without federal intervention. The Constitution had a very good day.”