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  High court to decide Texas election maps
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Contributorparticleman 
Last Editedparticleman  Dec 09, 2011 06:58pm
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AuthorJames Vicini
MediaNews Service - Reuters
News DateSaturday, December 10, 2011 12:40:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionThe U.S. Supreme Court on Friday halted the use of judge-drawn Texas election maps that favor minority candidates and Democrats in 2012 congressional and state legislative elections and agreed to decide the dispute that could have national implications.

The justices said they would hear arguments on January 9 in the first battle to reach the high court over political line-drawing of election maps nationwide after the 2010 U.S. census. The fights typically occur every 10 years.

The justices granted an emergency request by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican, asking that the interim court-drawn congressional and state legislative redistricting plans be put on hold.

The maps were drafted last month after minority groups challenged the original plans by the Republican-dominated state Legislature. Texas Governor Rick Perry, a Republican presidential candidate, signed the legislation into law.

Abbott said a federal district court panel in San Antonio erred by refusing to defer to the Legislature's plan, that the wholesale revisions were unjustified and the state maps should be used except for any district ruled to be illegally drawn.

The Supreme Court in a order set up a fast schedule, with the first briefs due on December 21 and the next set on January 3. The court is likely to make a quick ruling after the arguments.
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