Florida lawmakers approve new voting maps to favour Republicans

Florida lawmakers have approved new congressional maps that could help Republicans maintain control of the thinly divided US House of Representatives in the midterm elections this year.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the measure into law, which could allow Republicans to gain as many as four House seats.

The move comes hours after the US Supreme Court limited the ability of lawmakers to take the racial make-up of a state into account when drawing voting maps.

Florida is the latest to join a national redistricting arms race that began after President Donald Trump urged conservative states to re-examine voting maps to help Republicans keep the congressional majority.

The midterm elections, which will decide who controls Congress, will take place in November.

An array of states have jumped into the redistricting race, with Texas starting the battle with reshaping districts to give Republicans an edge in five new districts. California replied with voters approving a measure that canceled out those gains with maps that would give Democrats an edge, also in five districts.

Earlier this month, Virginia voters had approved a redistricting measure that could have potentially allowed Democrats to gain more seats in total.

But if Florida's bill is signed into law, Republicans will seemingly have a net gain. That could tip the scales in the closely watched midterm elections in November.

Historically, the party of the sitting president tends to lose House seats during the midterms.

If Democrats win the House in this November's contest race, it will not only serve a blow to Trump's political agenda, but it could open him up to Democratic-led congressional investigations.

Florida currently has 20 Republicans in the House and seven Democrats, with one vacant Democratic-leaning seat.

The new map approved in a 21-17 vote by state legislatures seeks to reduce Democratic-leaning districts in Tampa, Orlando and parts of the state's southeast coast, according to US partner, CBS.

Each of the newly-drawn districts could play a role in determining which political party takes the House, or lower chamber of Congress.

The Florida legislature's approval of a new map came hours after the US Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act, in a ruling that could reshape politics across the American south.

In the US, gerrymandering - the redrawing of electoral boundaries to favour a political party - is only illegal if it is based on race.

DeSantis wrote on social media on Wednesday that he had predicted the Supreme Court would weaken the Voting Rights Act in a manner that would support redistricting his state.

He said the ruling "invalidates" a Florida constitutional provision requiring the use of race in redistricting.