SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Interim voting maps in Texas won't be altered before the November elections, following a federal court rejecting the state's original Republican-drawn maps as discriminatory.
A three-judge federal panel Friday declined to consider tweaking the boundaries of three congressional districts before Election Day. Some minority rights groups sought immediate changes after another federal court this week found the state's original maps in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
Those original maps were never enacted. Texas will instead use the same court-drawn interim maps in November that were installed for the May primaries.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed notice Friday with the U.S. Supreme Court that the state will appeal the thrown-out maps. The state also had its voter ID law rejected this week under federal voting rights laws.
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