(MENAFN) The Republican-led Texas House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a redistricting bill designed to give the GOP five additional congressional seats in next year’s U.S. midterm elections.

The measure cleared the House along strict party lines with an 88-52 vote. Its approval followed a two-week delay during which more than 50 Democratic lawmakers staged a walkout in protest of the rare mid-decade redistricting effort.

During Wednesday’s session at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Democrats proposed 12 amendments to the plan, all of which were rejected by Republicans.

The Republican-controlled state Senate is expected to vote on the bill later this week before sending it to Governor Greg Abbott. If signed into law, the plan would redraw districts across Texas, including merging parts of the Democratic-leaning city of Austin with voters nearly 300 miles away in rural northern Texas.

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