The Alaska Dispatch reports that the state supreme court has ordered another redistricting round for the 2014 election as the state tries to find a way to comply with both state constitutional parameters and federal requirements under the Voting Rights Act – in the order the court wants.

Alaska’s newly redrawn political districts, which sent the 2012
elections into a frenzy — with 59 of 60 seats up for re-election —
will have to be redone. Again. This time before the 2014 election.

On Friday the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the plan, authored by
the state’s redistricting board, had violated court-ordered procedures
by adhering to the U.S. Voting Rights Act first, with compliance with
the Alaska State Constitution a secondary consideration.

This article in the Anchorage Daily News provides a similar explanation of why the process was ultimately overturned by the Alaska high court and sent back to the map-drawing board despite meeting voting rights requirements under the VRA.  Alaska Republicans will be unhappy as they had been very successful this cycle on the lines as drawn.