Analysis-In U.S. battle over redistricting, competition is the biggest loser

FILE PHOTO: Signs direct voters into a polling station during the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Durham, Durham County, North Carolina, U.S., November 3, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/File Photo

(Reuters) - Republican and Democratic lawmakers across the United States are drawing political maps that will likely deepen polarization and encourage more extreme candidates by eliminating competitive congressional seats, a new Reuters analysis shows.

Thirty-one states have finalized new congressional maps as part of the once-a-decade redistricting mandated by law. Along with six states that each have only one district, 308 of the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives now have boundaries in place for November's midterm elections.