Reply #10: Court redraws 5 Texas congressional districts [View All]

[Omaha Steve]

Full story: http://reuters.excite.com/article/20060804/2006-08-04T230918Z_01_N04266174_RTRIDST_0_POLITICS-TEXAS-DC.html

Court redraws 5 Texas congressional districts
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Aug 4, 7:09 PM (ET)

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Court redrew the boundaries of five south and west Texas congressional districts on Friday to restore political power to Hispanic voters.

The three-judge panel, appointed by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, vacated primary elections of candidates in the districts and said primary elections would be held simultaneously with the general election on November 7, according to the decision.

If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in a district, a runoff election will take place on a date to be set by the Texas secretary of state.

The court's new electoral map fulfills instructions from the U.S. Supreme Court when it ruled in June that a controversial 2003 congressional redistricting by the Texas Legislature was constitutional except for the dilution of Hispanic voting power in the 23rd Congressional District.

Most affected by the change, according to political analysts is Republican Rep. Henry Bonilla's 23rd District, which saw the number of Democratic voters increase by 8 percent under the congressional district map issued on Friday.