The Alaska Supreme Court has ordered the state Redistricting Board to redraw its proposed map of legislative boundaries.

A day after hearing oral arguments in the case, the Supreme Court issued its order late Wednesday afternoon.

The Justices point to an earlier case, Hickel v. Southeast Conference, in which the Court ruled that while the federal Voting Rights Act takes precedence over the Alaska Constitution, it should not be given so much weight that the constitution is “unnecessarily compromised.”

The order directs the board to make sure the plan first meets the requirements of the constitution, and only deviates when absolutely necessary to conform to the Voting Rights Act.

The Supreme Court also commends the Redistricting Board and Fairbanks Superior Court Judge Michael McConahy for their hard work on the issue. McConahy ordered the board to redraw four proposed House districts, after the plan was challenged by a pair of Fairbanks residents. Three of the districts he ordered redrawn include parts of the Fairbanks North Star Borough. The other includes Bethel and the western Aleutian Islands.

Under that plan the Aleutians East Borough would have been split into two voting districting.  Borough spokesperson Ernie Weiss says he’s optimistic about what the Court’s ruling means for the Aleutians.

“Now that they’re redrawing the map, once you redraw one part of the map, you have to redraw the whole thing, so we don’t know what’s doing to happen.  But we’re pretty confident that if you follow the Hickel process and you first go with the Alaska Constitution, they’re going to keep the Aleutians - and specifically the Aleutians East Borough – together.  So we’re pleased.  And cautiously optimistic.”

Weiss is less confident that the Board will be able to draw up a new plan before elections this fall.   If the Board can’t redraw the districts in time, the Court ruled that they could use the plan they’ve already developed for the upcoming election.   But Weiss isn’t sure what ‘in time’ means.

“That’s my big question.  To find out what is the cut off point for either using a new plan or going with the old plan.  Because people have to run for office!”

Under the new plan the western Aleutians and Bethel would vote in House District 37 and Senate District S while the eastern Aleutians would vote in House District 36 and Senate District R.

You can view the Court's full order here.

KTOO's Casey Kelly contributed to this piece.