Trio of judges to rule on congressional map
The same plaintiffs who are challenging the state’s 2021 congressional map are asking a panel of three federal judges to block using the new GOP-approved districts from being used in the March midterms. The Texas Tribune reported this is the first legal test for the redrawn districts, which are intended to increase the Texas congressional seats held by Republicans by five.
The hearing began Wednesday in El Paso and is expected to last nine days. Voting rights lawsuits are initially heard by two district judges and one circuit judge. Their ruling can only be appealed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. Several lawsuits were filed after Texas legislators redrew voting maps in 2021 following the decennial census. Those suits were consolidated into one case, League of United Latin American Citizens versus Abbott. As with the 2021 lawsuit, the latest complaint claims the new map harms the voting rights of Latino and Black voters.
