(MENAFN) A panel of federal judges decided on Wednesday that the state of North Carolina is permitted to implement a newly-designed congressional map for next year's midterm elections, according to reports from media outlets.

The US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina gave unanimous approval to the updated voter map, which could potentially result in one additional Republican seat in the US House of Representatives.

Every congressional seat holds significant weight in the upcoming 2026 midterms, as the Republican Party currently maintains a narrow six-seat majority in the House, which they are striving to preserve.

While North Carolina’s decision might be challenged on appeal, numerous other cases are still pending before several federal courts as well as the US Supreme Court.

Former President Donald Trump encouraged Republican-led states to revise their maps to strengthen the party’s position in the midterms.

However, opponents of the redrawn congressional districts argue that they are racially and ethnically discriminatory, particularly against minority populations.

Earlier this year, Texas drew national scrutiny when its Republican-controlled legislature rapidly passed a bill to redraw the voting map, a move that could have created five new Republican seats in Congress.

Governor Greg Abbott promptly signed the legislation into law without voter approval.

Nevertheless, lawsuits claiming that the new map was racially gerrymandered to disadvantage Black and Hispanic communities led a federal court to rule that the Texas map cannot be utilized in the 2026 elections.

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