US Supreme Court allows Texas to use redrawn voting map

The conservative-dominated US Supreme Court has allowed Texas to use redrawn congressional districts for the 2026 midterm elections. Photo / Getty Images

The US Supreme Court has allowed Texas to use redrawn congressional districts for the 2026 midterm elections, boosting Republicans’ hopes of retaining control of the House of Representatives.

The decision by the conservative-dominated court stayed a ruling from a lower court that the redrawn maps, pushed for by President Donald Trump, had incorrectly used race to set district lines.

The new maps carve out five new House districts in Texas that are likely to vote Republican, making it significantly harder for Democrats to win control of Congress in November next year.

“Texas needs certainty on which map will govern the 2026 midterm elections, so I will not delay the court’s order,” wrote Justice Samuel J. Alito, one of six conservatives on the court.

The three liberal justices on the Supreme Court all dissented.

Dissenting Justice Elena Kagan wrote, “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.”

While the ruling is technically only a temporary halt to the lower court ruling, it effectively ensures the Republican-favoured map will be in effect for the 2026 midterms.

Texas’ move to redraw its districts kicked off a race for other states to follow suit, eschewing the norm of redistricting only once a decade.

Democratic-run California has already approved a new electoral map that would create five districts more likely to vote Democrat.

Those maps have been challenged in court by the Republican Party of California in a lawsuit that has received the backing of the Trump administration.

Republicans in North Carolina have also redrawn that state’s map, while similar efforts are underway in other states, including Indiana and Missouri.

- Agence France-Presse