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In a per curiam order, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed Texas to use a redrawn congressional map that is projected to include as many as five new GOP-friendly districts. The 6-3 decision, issued on Thursday, upholds a appeal by the state to set aside a district court's injunction that had invalidated the boundaries in November.

Court's Reasoning

The district court wrongly interjected itself into an active primary campaign, causing considerable confusion and disturbing the fine balance of power in elections, the justices wrote in explaining its decision.

That lower court had determined that Texas had probably classified voters according to their race – a act known as illegal race-based districting – when it passed the boundaries. It had ordered the state to use the maps established after the 2020 census for the upcoming election.

Stinging Opposition

In a strongly worded dissent, Justice Elena Kagan objected to the court's ruling. She stated that it disregarded the work of the lower court, observing that its ruling was crafted by a judge nominated by ex-President Donald Trump.

Our position is above the district court, but our capability is not greater for resolving such fact-driven issues, Kagan wrote in a dissent supported by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

She continued, Today's ruling guarantees that Texas's new map, with all its increased partisan advantage, will dictate next year's elections. And it ensures that many Texas residents, for no good reason, will be sorted in electoral districts based on their race. And that result, as this court has stated year in and year out, is a breach of the law of the land.

Countrywide Map-Drawing Struggle

The ruling is part of a national fight over the redrawing of electoral maps. Texas is a key piece in pushes to reshape the U.S. House map to protect a slim Republican majority. Ordinarily, redistricting takes place after a new decade's census. Yet the move by Texas Republicans to initiate a aggressive mid-cycle redistricting earlier this year sparked a chain reaction among other states.

GOP lawmakers in states like North Carolina and Missouri have also enacted new maps that are estimated to yield a number of more Republican-leaning seats. Democrats, meanwhile, have responded with new maps in including California and Virginia, which could offset those potential gains.

Partisan Responses

Lone Star State attorney general hailed the supreme court ruling. In a comment, he said the order upheld Texas's basic authority to draw a map that guarantees representation favorable to Republicans. We are setting the precedent for restoring our country, through each electoral district and individual state, he stated.

Conversely, Democratic officials lamented the ruling. It is deeply disheartening that the Court has endorsed this severely racially gerrymandered plan from Texas Republicans, said the leader of a major Democratic campaign committee.

A top Democratic leader stated the court had yet again shredded its legitimacy by rubber-stamping a race-based map. This decision from the Court's far-right bloc proves extremists are willing to rig elections. The Texas map is a discriminatory power grab targeting Black and Latino voters, he concluded.