Texas's New Voting Maps Are Blocked by a US Court
Texas is prohibited by a US court from utilising recently updated voting maps.
Texas is not allowed to use new voting maps created by Republicans in an attempt to strengthen their dominance in the 2026 midterm elections, according to a US federal court.
The court ordered the state to utilise the congressional lines they had in place prior to their redistricting earlier this year, citing evidence that the new voting districts were "racially gerrymandered".
Midway through the decade, Republicans in the state legislature redrew voting districts, which prompted Democratic and Republican-led states to do the same in order to gain a political advantage ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has appealed the decision to the US Supreme Court.
Both major parties engage in gerrymandering, which is the redrawing of electoral boundaries to benefit a political party. This practice is lawful unless it is determined to be racially motivated.
Opponents contend that instead of voters choosing their elected leaders, the approach enables politicians to choose their constituents.
The Texas legislature's 2021 maps must be used instead of the recently authorised ones, according to the state's 2-1 decision.
"The public perception of this case is that it's about politics," Trump-appointed US Judge Jeffrey Brown stated in the ruling.
"The 2025 Map was undoubtedly influenced by politics. However, it went well beyond politics. Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 map, according to substantial evidence.
"A federal court just stopped one of the most brazen attempts to steal our democracy that Texas has ever seen," said Gene Wu, the statehouse Democratic leader, in a statement praising the decision.
"Greg Abbott and his Republican cronies tried to silence Texans' voices to placate Donald Trump, but now have delivered him absolutely nothing," Wu stated.
The decision was "clearly erroneous and undermines the authority of the U.S. Constitution," according to a statement from Governor Abbott.
"The Legislature redrew our congressional maps to better reflect Texans' conservative voting preferences – and for no other reason," Abbott stated. "Any claim that these maps are discriminatory is absurd and unsupported by the testimony offered during ten days of hearings."
Five new Republican-leaning districts are created by the maps that the Texas legislature passed in August and the state's Republican governor approved.
Earlier last month, California decided to redesign its own maps, which resulted in the creation of five seats that lean Democratic.
A Utah judge earlier this month ordered the adoption of a new electoral plan that will create one Democratic-leaning district in the state after rejecting an electoral map created by Republican lawmakers.
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