North Carolina’s election cycle has been thrown into chaos yet again. The U.S. District Court again found the Congressional districts drawn by the legislature in 2016 unconstitutional. They also suggested that those districts should not be used this year. There’s not likely time to redraw and approve new districts before November.

We’ve suffered through unstable districts for three decades now. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Republicans sued to have districts drawn by Democrat thrown out. They pledged that if they ever took control, they’d end gerrymandering with an independent redistricting commission. President Pro-tem Phil Berger even sponsored legislation that he now won’t even allow to be considered.

Since they got control, Republicans have taken redistricting in North Carolina to a new level. Using modern mapping technology, they’ve drawn districts that have given them a huge advantage, protecting their majority regardless of the outcome of the vote. In 2016, Republicans got about 53% of the statewide Congressional vote but won 77% of the districts. That’s egregious and anti-democratic.

Still, moving elections at this point in the cycle is unnerving. Congressional campaigns are underway and candidates are spending money talking to voters. The better solution for the time being seems be to run under these districts, flawed as they might be, until 2020.

The broader problem, though, is gerrymandering. I suspect that if a bill to create a nonpartisan redistricting commission came before the legislature today, it would pass both houses with votes to spare and that the governor would sign it. The legislative leadership doesn’t want to run the risk of districts that might reduce their power so no bill is getting to the floor. They know that they can lock in their majorities by handpicking their voters.

It’s really time to end the uncertainty that plagues every election cycle in the state. If legislators were more interested in their constituents and less interested in their power, they could solve the problem. It would take a bipartisan effort which, in turn, might help their abysmal favorability ratings. Both sides would probably get less than what they want but that’s how compromise works. It would be great to get back to that concept again.