SCOTUS Hands Republicans A Major Redistricting Win

Last year, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, asked the Supreme Court to put a stop to a three-judge panel’s decision in the Western District of Texas that found 2-1 that race played too big of a role in its redraw.

The Department of Justice also got involved, telling the Supreme Court to step in and change the decision. They said that Texas’ decision to change its map was based on “partisan objectives,” not racial ones, which could be against the Voting Rights Act.

The voting rights groups that sued Texas and Abbott said that the map was an illegal racial gerrymander. However, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on December 6 that the groups could not provide an alternative map that met Texas’ political needs.

The unsigned order from the high court said that the lower court should not have “interfered with an active primary campaign, causing a lot of confusion and upsetting the delicate balance between federal and state elections.”

This comes amid a redistricting battle across the nation ahead of November’s midterms.

A high-stakes legal fight over Virginia’s congressional map is intensifying as the Supreme Court of Virginia prepares to hear arguments on a voter-approved redistricting referendum that has already been blocked by a lower court.