US: The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments that Republicans illegally redrew the electoral map in Texas before congressional elections in 2004, which saw Democrats lose five seats.
Democrats claim that the redistricting disadvantaged ethnic minority voters and violated the principle of one-person-one-vote by using outdated census data.
The redistricting was pushed through the Texas legislature by former Republican House leader Tom DeLay, who faces charges of money-laundering and breaking Texas electoral law.
Prosecutors say Mr DeLay unlawfully channelled corporate funds to Texas Republican candidates before a state election that saw his party take control of the Texas legislature.
In the 2004 elections that followed the redrawing of the electoral map, Texas elected 21 Republicans and 11 Democrats, compared to 16 for each party in the previous election.
Texas Democratic party chairman Charles Soechting said he hoped the court would overturn the redistricting plan.
"Tom DeLay and his corrupt cronies were willing to sacrifice the voting rights of millions of Texans to carry out a corrupt, partisan, mid-decade redistricting scheme," he said.
The Texas redistricting was unusual because it came just two years after a court approved a redistricting plan based on the latest census.
American electoral districts are usually redrawn once a decade, but the Texas scheme was so successful for Republicans that two other states, Colorado and Georgia, have moved to redraw their districts in mid-decade.
The 1965 Voting Rights Act requires states with a history of discriminatory voting practices, including Texas, to submit electoral changes to the justice department for approval.
Justice department lawyers initially rejected the Texas plan as discriminatory against African-American and Hispanic voters but they were overruled by political appointees, and a three-judge panel later upheld the scheme.
The Supreme Court's decision to consider arguments against the redistricting plan came as a surprise because the court has concluded in the past that it is impossible to separate partisan politics from the redistricting process.
The last time the court heard such a politically charged case concerning election law was in 2000, when it resolved the presidential election in favour of George W Bush by halting a recount in Florida.
The court will hear four lawsuits against the redistricting plan from groups representing Democrats, black and Hispanic voters and the city of Austin and its surrounding county.
If the court strikes down the redistricting scheme, it could order Texas to redraw its electoral map before next year's congressional elections.
Republicans have controlled the House of Representatives for a decade, but corruption scandals, the unpopular war in Iraq and Mr Bush's personal unpopularity have made many of the party's seats vulnerable next year.
Democratic congressman Lloyd Doggett, who saw his Austin district dismantled in the redistricting plan, welcomed the court's decision to hear the case.
"With all this talk of spreading democracy abroad, I'm hopeful there might be some spreading of democracy at home now," he said.