A new federal lawsuit was filed challenging the state's new congressional district maps, scheduled to take effect in January. 

Officials with the watchdog group Common Cause Texas said the lawsuit was filed against redistricting maps because they reduce the voice of minority voters. 

"Since the passage of the Voting Rights Act, Texas hasn't gone a single decade without a federal court finding that the state had violated federal protections for people of color," Executive Director of Common Cause Texas Anthony Gutierrez said. "The state Senate maps were proposed just five days before hearings. The state House maps were proposed four days before hearings began. Those discussions were either not held or rushed, [and] testimony was often cut short or ignored."

Gutierrez says, as a result, districts diluted the votes of people of color. 

The lawsuit is calling for the current maps to be blocked, for new ones to be created. 

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