Texas lawmakers have approved new electoral maps designed to give Republicans an advantage in next year's U.S. House elections.

Texas House Republicans approved the new ballot lines in a vote of 88-52, creating five new Republican-leaning seats.

After two weeks of clashes, Democrats fled the state to halt voting and rally supporters against the redistricting plans.

The maps will now go to the state Senate, where they are expected to be quickly approved and then signed by the Texas governor.

Texas' decision has triggered redistricting battles across the two-party US.

Republicans hold a slim majority in the lower house of Congress, which Democrats hope to regain in the 2026 midterm elections.

Wednesday's vote in Texas came after a dramatic showdown in which Democrats fled across state lines to deny Republicans the necessary quorum in the state legislature to hold a vote.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, ordered the absent Democrats detained, and some said law enforcement had their homes under surveillance while they were away.

The lawmakers returned this week, saying they had achieved their goal of drawing national attention to the issue.

In an effort to ensure that Democrats would not try to stop the vote again, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows,ordered the doors to the legislative chamber to be locked on Monday.

He also said the Democrats would be “taken into custody” by a designated law enforcement officer to ensure they returned to the House floor on Wednesday for the redistricting vote.

One of the lawmakers, Nicole Collier, chose to sleep in the chamber rather than be escorted by an officer. Her protest spread to Democrats, with others joining her and breaking their police escort agreements.

Ripple Effect

Since Texas began planning these new electoral maps, other states controlled by both political parties—including Florida, New York, Ohio, and Missouri—have been weighing similar changes.

California lawmakers are currently debating new maps that would give Democrats new advantages in five districts, negating the changes made in Texas.

A key provision in California says the maps would only go into effect if Texas or other states moved forward with changes favoring Republicans.

After Wednesday's vote, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) wrote on X: “This is serious, Texas.”

The new Texas maps sparked an uproar surrounding gerrymandering (redrawing borders) electoral to favor one political party), which is practiced by both major parties and is legal unless ruled racially motivated.

Like other states, Texas typically redraws its congressional districts once a decade when new U.S. Census population data is released.

Texas Democrats claimed the redrawing of maps ahead of the next population count in 2030 was along racial lines, an argument that has been rejected by Republicans.

Electoral maps approved in 2021 after the last population count remain the subject of litigation over claims of racial discrimination.

During one of the many heated exchanges during the Texas House debate, Republican Rep. Todd Hunter, who introduced the redistricting bill, drew applause as he rebuked Democrats.

“No “Come into this chamber and say we didn’t include you,” he said. “You left us for 18 days, and that’s wrong.” House Democrats questioned the legality of the maps and accused Republicans of trying to “steal” the election. “Talk about cowardice and cheaters,” said Democratic Rep. Ann Johnson. “The root of all of this is about racism and power,” she added.“A simple power grab.”

Democrats and civil rights groups have claimed the new maps will dilute minority voting power, violating federal law, and have threatened to file lawsuits.

*This article was written and edited by our journalists with the help of an artificial intelligence translation tool, as part of a pilot program.

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