RALEIGH — On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Knox Jenkins will decide the remedy to what he has already labeled an unconstitutional set of state legislative districts. His decision will have a huge impact on the future of North Carolina.

That’s a lot to ask of an elected trial court judge in Johnston County, but there was probably no way to avoid it. The Democratic majority in the N.C. House and Senate got carried away with themselves last year and drew new districts that wildly gerrymandered the state to subvert the political will of the electorate. They should have known better (as should Republicans in other states where they were the aggressors). Their defense was lame — that the state constitution’s rule against splitting counties in drawing districts was overwritten by the federal Voting Rights Act, despite the fact that it doesn’t apply to most of North Carolina.

In court, the Democrats, I mean “the state,” argued that the mostly Republican plaintiffs were advancing an impossible interpretation of the law, since it was impossible to split counties within the Voting Rights Act territory while respecting their integrity in the 60 counties outside the federal jurisdiction. Unfortunately for them, the Republicans had already submitted such a map. Doh!

One wouldn’t have expected such legal incompetence from Attorney General Roy Cooper, an experienced redistricting hand himself. In fairness, the case was handled by a holdover from the previous holder of the office, whose ability to lose big cases was legendary.

After Friday’s ruling against the legislative districts, the reaction of the political establishment was off-key. Several news reports played up the fact that candidate filings would begin as scheduled on Monday (no doubt delighting the many thousands of North Carolinians who planned to come out for the festivities). Only a few noticed that the judge’s remedy order this Wednesday was likely to be far more important: whether to halt the legislative election cycle until new districts can be drawn (the GOP position) or to allow the elections to continue and a new legislature to fix the problem in 2003 (the Democrats’ preferred option, since they assume the contorted maps will ensure them control in November).

Jenkins hinted Friday that he was inclined to the latter position, on the spurious grounds that ordered a redrawing would needlessly burden the state during a budget crisis. If he so decides Wednesday, you have my permission to retch. His real reason would be an unwillingness to say no to the political class, who fears losing control of the situation. Obviously the harm to the plaintiffs and to the voters of North Carolina, whose ability to choose their own leadership will be significantly hampered by the unconstitutional maps, far outweighs the relatively small financial and other costs associated with starting over in an immediate special session. The extra costs aren’t the fault of the plaintiffs, who proved their case, but of the legislative majority and the state, who couldn’t and didn’t.

This goes far beyond the machinations of politics or the egos of politicians. Control of the General Assembly matters, in such areas as tax policy, the budget crisis, education, health care, and transportation. When Jenkins rules on Wednesday, he will be deciding more than just who can vote for whom.