Texas’ Supreme Court has blocked Galveston County’s new precinct maps from being used in the 2026 General Election. The maps were adopted mid-election cycle, meaning between the 2026 Primary and General Elections.
Background
Following the April 2026 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which held that majority-minority districts were no longer required under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, Galveston County decided to redraw its precinct maps with a more aggressive partisan approach.
This included new precinct lines for its commissioners court, justice of the peace, and county constable. The latter two had not been redistricted since 2013, making them due for adjustment to address population shifts. The new maps were adopted in June.
However, the county had months earlier held primary elections for two commissioners and three JP candidates under the old precinct maps. Galveston County clarified in a court hearing that it planned to use the new precinct maps for the 2026 General Election, as it is the “legal map that’s now in effect.”
On August 4, a coalition of Democrat plaintiffs filed an emergency petition for writ of mandamus, directly asking the Texas Supreme Court to block the new maps before the 2026 General Election.
Plaintiffs argued that the Texas Election Code prohibits drawing boundaries between the Primary and General Elections. They also contend that doing so violates equal protection rights, as certain voters and potential candidates will be denied “the opportunity to have participated in the primary election,” as a result of staggered election terms.
Galveston County disagreed, and pointed to a recent ruling from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In Jackson v. Tarrant County, the Fifth Circuit held that “[n]othing in the Constitution forbids a jurisdiction from adopting a staggered election system. Nothing in the Constitution forbids a jurisdiction from redistricting mid-cycle. And nothing in the Constitution forbids a jurisdiction from combining the two—even when the practical result is that some voters must wait a bit longer to cast their ballots. The Constitution protects the right to vote, not the right to vote on a particular timetable.”
Notably, this was a ruling as to federal redistricting law. The issue of mid-election cycle redistricting had seemingly never been considered at the state level.
The Ruling
On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court released its decision, ruling in favor of the Democrat plaintiffs. Galveston County was directed to conduct the 2026 General Election using the same precinct lines used for the 2026 Primary Election.
The Court reasoned that “the County has failed to identify valid legal authority for implementing this extraordinary mid-election change in its precinct lines. Neither the Texas Constitution nor any statute authorizes the County to take the unusual and perhaps unprecedented step of choosing to conduct a general election using precinct lines that differ from those used in the corresponding primary election absent an overriding state or federal law obligating it to do so.”
The Court also acknowledged that no law explicitly prohibits this choice, though unlike the Fifth Circuit, it concluded that this was of little consequence for two reasons.
“First, Texas counties must find authorization for their actions in the Constitution or a statute; they have no inherent or residual authority from which exceptions must be carved,” reads the opinion. “Second, the implicit claim that a governmental authority may unsettle the electoral map during an ongoing election for any reason (or none at all) implicates serious constitutional concerns.”
Although Galveston County is required to use its old precinct maps for the 2026 General Election, the new maps are expected to take effect immediately after.
If you or anyone you know has information regarding court cases, please contact our tip line: scorecardtips@protonmail.com.
