The US Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked two lower court rulings that mandated the redrawing of Texas congressional and state legislative districts [orders, PDF]. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Stephen Breyer would have denied the application for stay.

In August, the US District Court for the Western District of Texas [official website] found [JURIST report] Districts 27 and 35 invalid pursuant to the Voting Rights Act [text, PDF] and the Fourteenth Amendment [text]. Texas’ state legislative maps were struck on similar grounds.

No new districts will be drawn under Tuesday’s orders until the Supreme Court makes a final ruling. Without the mandated order to redraw the districts, the 2018 elections will likely proceed as is.