The Supreme Court will attempt on Monday to untangle the political mess in Texas created by a voting rights controversy. The case could have important political consequences, and highlights a lurking issue regarding the continued viability of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark legislation passed in 1965 to protect minorities from discriminatory voting practices.
At issue are two very different sets of redistricting maps drawn up to take into account new census numbers for the state: Texas has grown by 4.3 million people since the previous census, and minorities make up the majority of the growth. Because of the population growth, Texas was awarded four additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Last spring the Republican-dominated Texas legislature passed one set of redistricting maps. But Democrats and minority rights groups immediately criticized them, arguing they did not reflect the growth of minority representation. Texas, a state with a history of past discrimination in voting, is subject to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires the state to get approval or “preclearance” from the Department of Justice or a federal court in Washington, D.C., for any election-related changes.
As such, a Washington, D.C., court is currently reviewing the Texas maps. Because the court realized that the redistricting issue would not get resolved before the next election, it asked a panel of three Texas judges to draw up a set of interim maps.
Those interim maps are at the heart of the Supreme Court challenge. Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott asked the high court to block the court-drawn maps, which he said favored Democrats, arguing that the Texas court did not give enough deference to the legislature’s maps.
The Supreme Court agreed to temporarily block the interim maps and expedite a review of the redistricting issue.
Full Article: Texas Case Could Change Voting Rights Act – ABC News.
