Update: Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott Approves Interim Election Maps

Updated 5:36 p.m. Monday: A Federal Judge in San Antonio says that the interim election maps agreed upon by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and multiple minority groups are not acceptable yet, because the agreement has not received enough support.

The Texas Attorney General has accepted proposed interim redistricting maps for the state’s 2012 elections.

The proposed interim maps have been modified from the original maps drawn by the Texas Legislature to give two new majority-Hispanic congressional seats, according to an attorney for Democrat Congressman Henry Cuellar, the Associated Press reports.

“The proposed maps minimize changes to the redistricting plan passed by the legislature and, as the U.S. Supreme Court Required, makes changes only where necessary,” said Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. “Even though these maps aren’t fully supported by all interest groups, modifications have been incorporated based on requests made by all parties.”

Abbott says the maps should allow the court enough time to finalize the interim redistricting maps in time to have elections in April.

The maps, originally drawn by the Texas Legislature, were redrawn by a federal district court panel in San Antonio. The court-drawn maps modified some districts to heavily favor minorities and Democrats, changing over half of the 150 Texas House Districts, five Texas Senate districts, and all of the state’s 36 Congressional Districts.

Texas gained four congressional seats as a result of the 2010 Census.

Minority groups and the State of Texas had until Monday to reach a compromise on the maps, or the primaries would be pushed back for a second time.