Supreme Court freezes Texas redistricting order

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday evening blocked rulings from a federal court in Texas that required the state redraw part of its congressional and state legislative district map due to racial discrimination. The court’s five Republican-appointed justices voted to approve the stay, while the four Democratic-appointed justices voted against it. In August, a three-judge panel in San Antonio ruled 2-1 that the layout of two Texas congressional districts violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act. In a separate ruling, the panel came to a similar determination about the Texas state House of Representatives districts. The court said the way Texas drew up its congressional districts blocked Hispanic voters from electing a candidate of their choice. The rulings said Texas needed to redraw the maps or the court would do it for them before the 2018 elections. The Supreme Court’s ruling on Tuesday blocked the orders, pending another legal challenge. “The Supreme Court confirmed what the rest of us already knew: Texas should be able to use maps in 2018 that the district court itself adopted in 2012 and Texas used in the last three election cycles,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement.