The U.S. Supreme Court has permitted Galveston County, Texas, to utilize an electoral map previously judged as racially gerrymandered for its next election. This decision came despite dissent from the court’s three liberal justices. The map in question, crafted in 2021, reportedly eliminated the county’s sole majority-minority precinct, a move critics argue violates the Voting Rights Act by discriminating against Black and Latino voters.

Justice Elena Kagan, in her dissenting opinion, noted that the court’s choice implies that a legally acceptable map, similar to those historically used in Galveston County elections, will now be disregarded. This map had received approval from a district court judge. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson joined Kagan in her dissent.

The Supreme Court’s decision overruled emergency requests by voters and civil rights organizations. These groups sought to delay the implementation of the 2021 map, favoring one ordered by a lower court judge. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, had mandated the use of the 2021 map, which this latest ruling upholds.