Washington DC - The Supreme Court cleared the way on Tuesday for Alabama to use a Republican-drawn voting map in upcoming elections, as President Donald Trump's party tries to protect its narrow House majority.

The Republican-friendly redistricting plan was previously blocked by a three-judge federal panel who ruled that it intentionally discriminated against Black voters.

The panel said that the plan spread Black voters across districts "to dilute votes, at least in part because they are Black."

But the Supreme Court overturned that decision, allowing Alabama to swap out its current map for a Republican-drawn one that will likely give the party an edge in six of the state's seven congressional districts.

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"States are free to decide for themselves whether last-minute changes to an election are in their best interests," the court's ruling said.

Ordinarily, congressional districts are redrawn after each census. But Trump has pressed Republican-led states to redraw maps mid-decade, hoping to offset the usual midterm losses suffered by a president's party.

Republicans have already enacted new maps in several states.