In a state with a long history of discrimination, Texas lawmakers are kicking off the 2021 round of political mapmaking — the first in nearly half a century without federal oversight.
In writing about the heated process of drawing political maps, The Texas Tribune’s Alexa Ura describes how a Supreme Court ruling stood as the culmination of a chain of events that changed how political mapmaking in Texas will be scrutinized and overseen for years to come.
In 2018, the high court overruled a lower court’s ruling that lawmakers had drawn districts back in 2013 with discriminatory intent.
Ura writes that while state lawmakers face an incredibly pivotal and politically charged moment in 2021, they will have much more freedom to set those political lines.