Department Of Justice Sues Texas Over New Redistricting Maps

Austin TX

06 December, 2021

2:14 PM

Description

AUSTIN, TX — The Department of Justice is suing Texas over its new redistricting maps, citing the plans discriminate against voters in the state's booming Latino and Black populations. The lawsuit, filed in the Western District of Texas on Monday, claims the state violates part of the Voting Rights Act. "Section 2 prohibits vote dilution, which occurs when an electoral practice minimizes or cancels out the voting strength of a racial group or language minority group… Discriminatory voting schemes are illegal," the lawsuit states. "The Department's voting law experts have assessed Texas' new redistricting plans and determined that they include districts that violate the Voting Rights Act." The lawsuit notes that the vast majority of Texas' population growth over the past decade came from Black, Latino and Asian people, but the new maps that state Republicans drew doesn't give any of these communities new opportunities to choose their own representatives. Instead, the maps pack Black and Latino communities into bizarre-shaped districts — a Dallas-area one is referred to as a "seahorse" shape — while preserving safe seats for white Republicans. The announcement comes just a month after the DOJ filed a separate lawsuit against Texas over the passage of Senate Bill 1, which was signed into law in September. SB 1 bans 24-hour polling locations, increases ID requirements and implements restrictions on drive-thru voting and voting by mail. "A core principal of our democracy is that voters should choose their representatives — not the other way around," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a briefing Monday. "Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act requires state voting laws — including laws that draw electoral maps — provide eligible voters with equal opportunity to participate in the democratic process and elect representatives of their choosing." The DOJ says it's putting all its resources into pursuing these cases. The Associated Press contributed to this report.