A US federal court on Tuesday blocked a new form of electoral map in the state of Texas that would have allowed Republicans to gain up to five seats in the House of Representatives at the expense of Democrats. The court ruled that the new map could not be used because it appeared to be an illegal racially motivated manipulation of constituencies.
A US federal court on Tuesday blocked a new form of electoral map in the state of Texas that favored Republicans and would have allowed them to gain five seats in the House of Representatives at the expense of Democrats. According to the court, the new map appears to be illegal racially motivated manipulation of constituencies. TASR informs about it according to Politico magazine and AFP agency.
- Federal court blocks new Texas election map.
- The new map was considered a racially motivated manipulation.
- The court decided to order the use of the electoral map from 2021.
- Republicans plan to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Problem for Republicans
The court ruled that the new map, which weakened five Democratic electoral districts in Texas, cannot be used in the so-called midterm elections in 2026. These are elections to the House of Representatives, usually in the middle of the president’s four-year term. A federal court in Texas ordered it to use electoral districts from 2021 for the election. AFP points out that black and Hispanic voters opposed the new map in particular.
The decision, according to Politico, is a problem for President Donald Trump’s administration as it seeks to redraw electoral districts across the country. Republicans are expected to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
Constituencies are supposed to delay changes in the number of inhabitants
The White House, the Justice Department and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Electoral districts in the US are traditionally determined after the national census to reflect changes in the population of individual territories, explains AFP. A court-ordered precinct map for next year’s Texas election reflects the results of the 2020 census.
The next census is scheduled for 2030. Texas is controlled by Republicans and, under pressure from Trump, decided to redraw electoral districts this year to prevent Democrats from gaining a majority in the House of Representatives, adds AFP.
