redistricting

The high court left intact a key provision of the federal Voting Rights Act in a case many feared would go the other way. The decision’s importance in ongoing litigation over Texas’ political maps will largely be felt in what didn’t happen.

Thursday’s 5-4 decision could signal support for future challenges based on a provision of the federal Voting Rights Act.

The Senate Special Committee on Redistricting held hearings last week on the current map defining state Senate districts.The map, along with the rest of Texas’s political boundaries, were redrawn in 2021 by the Republican-majority Texas Legislature and are still seeing pushback from Democrats.

The Texas Legislature is required to approve changes to political boundaries during the first regular session after census data is released. But the coronavirus pandemic led lawmakers to pass their latest maps in the offseason.

The redistricting process this year is mostly procedural and is not expected to produce very different results from the most recent process completed in 2021.

The lawsuit, which a judge has combined with a similar suit by Latino and Black voters, will go to trial at the end of September, too late to affect this year’s midterm elections.

Dallas city council has signed off on a map that impacts on who has voting power and who council members represent. The new district boundaries lines will last for a decade.

Dallas City Council is running out of time to approve a redistricting map that will determine if some neighborhoods stay together or split apart. The council failed to pass a final map at Wednesday's meeting.

Redistricting maps for Dallas City Council races recently were updated after Black and Latino residents complained that earlier versions threatened their voting power. And that could happen again.

North Texas state Sen. Beverly Powell said Wednesday she's suspending her reelection campaign. She claims the newly redistricted maps have created an "unwinnable race" for anyone who relies on a diverse voter base.

As Texas defends against accusations that its new political maps are discriminatory, it’s laying the groundwork to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out longstanding Voting Rights Act protections.

The lawsuit marks the third time the Biden administration has targeted Texas over changes to political maps or voting laws.