US Supreme Court allows Texas to use redrawn voting maps in midterms

The US Supreme Court will allow Texas to use a new congressional map that could help the Republican effort to shore up their majority in the coming 2026 midterm elections.

Thursday's unsigned decision comes after Texas filed an emergency request last month to pause a lower-court ruling that blocked the new map, which was passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Republican Governor Greg Abbott in August.

In an apparent 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court said in its "preliminary evaluation of this case", Texas satisfied the conditions for emergency relief and that the lower court "committed at least two serious errors".

Three liberal justices dissented.

In November, a lower Texas court said evidence indicated the new voting districts were "racially gerrymandered", and ordered the state to use the congressional lines they had in place before they redistricted earlier this year.

Challenges to the mid-decade redistricting came after Democrat lawmakers in Texas fled the state over the summer to stall voting on the new map, helping trigger a race across other states to change their maps too.

California proposed new maps to offset Texas' gains, which voters approved during a November special election.