"The Supreme Court looks increasingly likely to sidestep a clash over an election law that has weighty stakes for gerrymandering and setting election rules.

The justices were headed toward a decision by June in the closely watched appeal from North Carolina Republican lawmakers, who are advancing a sweeping legal theory that would hand near-total authority to state legislatures in regulating federal elections.

But legal experts say a recent move by the justices on the country’s high court to question whether they have the authority to even hear the state case means they may be considering holding off on resolving the matter this term."