Austin (WBAP/KLIF) – A panel of three federal judges ruled late Friday that some of the 36 congressional districts created by the state legislature in 2011 were deliberately designed to dilute the voting strength of Hispanics and African-Americans. The court singled out four districts, demanding the boundaries of three must be re-drawn. Those districts include one in Corpus Christi, one that stretches from San Antonio to El Paso, and a third that runs from San Antonio to Austin. The judges also listed a district in the Dallas – Fort Worth area, but did not demand that it be re-drawn. The discriminatory intent ruling opens the possibility that any future districting maps will have to be reviewed and approved by the courts before they can be used in any Texas elections.
