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Via an per curiam decision, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Texas to employ a revised congressional district plan that could add as many as five additional conservative-tilting districts. The 6-3 order, released on Thursday, upholds a petition by the state to set aside a federal judge's block that had rejected the new map in November.

Justices' Reasoning

The lower court wrongly interjected itself into an active primary campaign, generating much confusion and disrupting the delicate balance of power in elections, the order stated in justifying its ruling.

The district court had earlier ruled that Texas had likely grouped voters based on their race – a act known as illegal race-based districting – when it adopted the boundaries. It had instructed the state to employ the boundaries established after the most recent national count for the upcoming election.

Stinging Opposition

Through a sharply worded objection, Justice Elena Kagan criticized the majority's ruling. She stated that it disrespected the work of the district court, pointing out that its opinion was crafted by a judge appointed by former President Donald Trump.

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

Kagan added, Today's ruling guarantees that Texas's redistricting plan, with all its boosted favoritism, will govern next year's elections. And it ensures that many Texas voters, without justification, will be sorted in electoral districts because of their race. And that result, as this court has declared repeatedly, is a infraction of the U.S. Constitution.

National Map-Drawing Battle

The court's action is part of a nationwide contest over the remapping of electoral maps. Texas is a key piece in efforts to reshape the U.S. House map to protect a slim Republican hold. Ordinarily, redistricting occurs after a ten-year survey. Yet the action by Texas Republicans to initiate a bold mid-cycle redistricting earlier this year sparked a wave among other states.

GOP lawmakers in states like North Carolina and Missouri have also passed new maps that are estimated to yield several more Republican-leaning seats. Democrats, meanwhile, have countered with revised boundaries in states like California and Virginia, which might neutralize those projected gains.

Political Reactions

Lone Star State top lawyer praised the supreme court ruling. In a comment, he said the order protected Texas's prerogative to draw a map that guarantees electoral outcomes supportive of his party. We are setting the precedent for restoring our country, through each electoral district and individual state, he added.

On the other hand, Democratic officials lamented the ruling. It is deeply disheartening that the Court has endorsed this severely racially gerrymandered plan from Texas Republicans, said the head of a major Democratic election organization.

Another top Democratic figure stated the court had once again shredded its credibility by approving a racially gerrymandered map. Tonight's ruling by far-right justices on the supreme court is further proof that the extremists will do anything to rig the midterm elections. The gerrymandered Texas congressional map is a partisan and racially discriminatory power grab designed to subvert the will of the voters – particularly in Black and Latino communities, he added.