Texas GOP Avoids Federal Oversight in Voter Map Challenge (1)

Texas won’t have to get federal approval before making changes to its voter maps after a panel of U.S. judges ruled that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision raised the bar for declaring when a state’s discrimination against minority voters warranted ongoing court supervision.

Texas would have been the first state pushed back under federal electoral oversight, a process known as preclearance, if the judges had ruled the other way.

The panel in San Antonio July 24 predicted the dispute is far from settled, saying it expects Texas’s future electoral maps will again be challenged. And it said practices adopted ...