A three-judge federal panel’s recent ruling on Texas’ electoral maps could shake up state politics and carry national implications. The ruling may initially sound simple enough. Texas intentionally discriminated against black and Latino voters in drawing its 2011 congressional map, the majority found in a 2-1 ruling Friday night. More specifically: Three of the state’s 36 districts violate either the U.S. Constitution or the Voting Rights Act. But little is straightforward about redistricting, the once-a-decade process of rejiggering political boundaries to address the changing population. Friday’s ruling was no exception, simultaneously answering questions and raising new ones. “It’s a gigantic ruling, but it leaves a lot of uncertainty,” said Michael Li, a redistricting expert with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School. “It makes your head hurt.”
… The judges found fault with Congressional District 23, which stretches from San Antonio to El Paso, takes in most of the Texas-Mexico border and is represented by Republican Will Hurd of Helotes; Congressional District 27, represented by Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi; and Congressional District 35, a Central Texas district represented by Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin.
Mapdrawers “acted with an impermissible intent to dilute minority voting strength” in some districts, the majority ruled. This included “packing” and “cracking” minority populations in certain districts to reduce their influence across the larger electoral map.
Texas did not dispute that it practiced “extreme gerrymandering.” The state’s lawyers, however, said only partisanship, not racism, motivated lawmakers to pack and crack Democrats.
Full Article: Texas lost a ruling over its congressional map. So what’s next? | The Texas Tribune.
