WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Supreme Court turned down a key element of a Republican strategy to tighten the party's control of the House of Representatives, possibly setting the stage for bitter litigation over the outcome of congressional elections on November 2.
The court refused Monday to uphold a Republican-engineered redistricting scheme in the state of Texas that is likely to win the party up to six additional House seats and sent back for review an earlier US federal court ruling that had found it legal.
"The judgment is vacated and the cases are remanded to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas for further consideration," the court order stated without further comment.
Coming just two weeks before the US presidential election, the ruling will not be able to affect the November 2 vote.
But legal experts said it was likely to give rise to legal challenges to congressional election results in Texas, a state that sends to Washington a whopping 32 members of the House of Representatives.
"The effect is that the Democrats live to fight another day," said Gerald Hebert, one of the attorneys representing Democratic challengers of the redistricting scheme. "This gives me great optimism... Today's decision helps us get to the place we want to go."
The fight goes back to early 2003, when Texas Republicans, guided by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, redrew the state's electoral map, adding conservative strongholds to traditional Democratic districts and diluting the Democratic support base.
The scheme is now expected to yield the Republicans up to six additional congressional seats, significantly complicating Democratic hopes of retaking the House, where Republicans currently hold a 227-205 majority.
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