The US Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Texas can use a new electoral map that would add more Republicans to the House of Representatives.
It allows next year’s midterm elections to be held using the new districts, which were drawn to favor Republicans.
Thursday’s ruling temporarily pausesa previous judgement by a lower court that stuck down the redistricted electoral map on the grounds that it likely discriminated based on race.
Texas made an emergency request to the Supreme Court for quick actions because the qualification process in the new districts was already underway, with primary elections scheduled for March.
“The District Court improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections,” the Supreme Court said in a brief opinion explaining the decision.
Why is Texas redrawing its electoral map?
Republican lawmakers in Texas introduced the new electoral map after President Donald Trump urged his party to redraw districts to benefit him and his party.
Under the existing electoral map in Texas, Republicans hold 25 House seats while Democrats hold 13. The new map would potentially hand Republicans up to 30 seats.
This sparked a political crisis in the state along with accusations of gerrymandering — the redrawing of districts for political gain.
Thursday’s ruling in favor of the new map was backed by the Supreme Court’s six conservative justices, while its three liberal justices issued dissenting opinions.
“The District Court conducted a nine-day hearing… And after considering all the evidence, it held that the answer was clear. Texas largely divided its citizens along racial lines to create its new pro-Republican House map,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent.
New map could influence midterm elections
The Republicans currently hold a slim majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Losing this majority at the midterm elections could impede Trump’s agenda and even open the door to congressional investigational investigations into his actions.
The Supreme Court’s ruling could have an impact beyond Texas, too.
California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom reacted to the initial redistricting efforts in Texas by initiating his own effort that would target the five Republican-held seats in his state.
In November, California voters overwhelmingly approved Newsom’s redrawn map. The Trump administration responded by suing California to block the map from taking effect.
Edited by: Felix Tamsut
