The Virginia Supreme Court will do it.

The state’s highest court has been handed the constitutional task of redesigning the boundaries of the 100 state House of Delegates and 40 state Senate districts.

District lines are required by law to be adjusted every 10 years based on results of the U.S. Census of the population.

The court got the job after a bipartisan panel, the Virginia Redistricting Commission, was unable to come up with the maps by the Oct. 10 deadline.

In 2020, Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment to create the commission to handle redistricting and remove it from the control of the legislature.

The aim was to create more competitive districts and end gerrymandering, or the creation of distorted and misshaped districts that would give the majority party, Democrat or Republican, a better chance of electing members and keeping power.

Advocates argued that a new bipartisan commission would create better districts.

However, the commission, which includes eight members selected by Democrats and eight by Republicans, never gelled as a body, as has been the case in Ohio and New York.

Instead, partisanship prevailed. With no way to break ties, ultimately there was no agreement.

Each of the two groups on the commission had been allowed to hire attorneys and consultants to draw separate maps, but the two camps never found a way to merge the competing visions. One big sticking point was the Republican desire to limit the number of districts with substantial Black or minority populations.

Last Friday, the Democratic group made a last-ditch effort to reach a compromise. They proposed using the Democratic-drawn Senate map and the Republican-drawn House map as starting points.

The eight Republicans torpedoed that idea. Democrats, in turn, rejected the Republican counter offer to keep both maps in play, considering that counterproductive.

“At this point, I don’t feel as though all members on the commission are sincere in their willingness to compromise and create fair maps for the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Greta J. Harris, a commission co-chair.

“Our work here is done. What a shame.”

The commission still has hopes of creating new boundaries for Virginia’s 11 congressional districts. The panel is required to complete that work by Monday, Oct. 25, and send it to the state House of Delegates and Senate for approval during the 2022 legislative session.

The state Supreme Court also would draw the new congressional district boundaries if the commission again fails its task or the legislature rejects the commission’s recommendation.