Commissioners' approval of the new maps in June sparked outrage among some voters, who said they would impact the minority vote and rip apart communities.
RELATED: Galveston Co. commissioners unanimously vote for new redistricting map
However, University of Houston political science lecturer Nancy Sims said Friday's block of those maps by the Texas Supreme Court comes down to when they were approved.
The court's opinion wrote the following statement:
"The County has failed to identify valid legal authority for implementing this extraordinary mid-election change in its precinct lines. We conclude that a commissioners court's general power to redraw precinct lines "from time to time" does not include the power to change the lines applicable to an election after the election has begun."
Sims said the new maps confused people.
"They had just voted these maps in June, and people weren't aware of them. They were planning to use them for this election cycle. And people were very confused over who would represent them, what, who were the candidates in their neighborhood," Sims said.
The Galveston County general counsel sent ABC13 a statement about Friday's decision:
"We reviewed the Texas Supreme Court's opinion this morning. The same candidates are all unopposed in Galveston County's commissioner, constable, and justice of the peace elections this year, regardless of whether the new or old maps are used in the upcoming general election. Just to be clear, it is a 100% certainty that today's opinion will not change who is a commissioner, justice of the peace, or constable in Galveston County on Jan. 1, 2027.
The mandamus proceedings against the County are a purely litigation-driven farce. For five years, the same groups have complained that they believe the County's 2021 precinct maps are discriminatory. Now they want the County to put the allegedly discriminatory maps back so they can keep litigating against the very same map they had reinstated.
"Meanwhile, mail-in ballots must be distributed to our soldiers serving overseas in roughly a week, and revising those ballots to swap around uncontested local elections would almost certainly take more than a month. We sincerely hope that no man or woman in uniform will have their right to vote for their congressman, governor, senator, or Texas Supreme Court Justice compromised while we attempt to modify uncontested local races. We plan to ask the Texas Supreme Court to consider the practical impacts of this decision."
Sims also said the late change could have wide implications.
"Printing the ballots, we are past the deadline for the ballots to be printed. So it's creating a lot of havoc for the people who administer the elections and for the voters," Sims said.
Sims added that the blocked maps could be used again in a different election cycle, likely only after going through the approval process again.
According to ABC13's news partners at the Houston Chronicle, a federal judge still has to rule on the claims the County intentionally discriminated against minority voters.