Legal expert explains what's next in Texas redistricting battle
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas redistricting bill is on track to become law before the start of the weekend. Lawmakers in the state Senate could vote on the version that passed the House late Wednesday.
If the Senate takes it up on Friday, Democrats don't have enough votes to stop it. They've said their next option is to start legal challenges.
David Froomkin, Ph.D., with the University of Houston's Law Center, joined Eyewitness News Thursday morning to explain what this means going forward.
"If this plan goes into effect, which I expect it will, the result very clearly will be to substantially reduce the voting power of communities of color across the state of Texas," he said.
Republicans argue that the new map is drawn to give their party a political advantage. That is legal. However, maps drawn based on race are unconstitutional and a violation of the Voting Rights Act. Democrats have continuously called the Texas map racist.
RELATED: Texas House approves new congressional map that favors Republicans in 2026 midterms
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act makes racial bias illegal in the voting process. That's the provision Democrats could use to sue and stall the new map. Section 2 will be evaluated by the United States Supreme Court soon.
Froomkin said the conservative majority could gut it and ultimately make the provision unenforceable.
"It would open the floodgates for states across the country to turn the clock back to a pre-1965 world when states could thoroughly disenfranchise minority voters," he said.
If legal action is unsuccessful, new maps would be in place for the 2026 midterm elections.
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