DOJ sues Texas over Republican-approved redistricting maps

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The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Monday challenging legislative maps adopted by Texas Republicans in recent weeks that it says fail to recognize growth in the Latino population.

The lawsuit alleges that the redistricting plan drawn by Texas lawmakers violates the Voting Rights Act.

The lawsuit that, in drawing the US congressional map, that Texas "failed to draw a seat encompassing the growing Latino electorate in Harris County," and that the state "excised minority communities from the core of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex."

"Texas also eliminated Latino electoral opportunities in the State House plan through manipulation or outright elimination of districts where Latino communities previously had elected their preferred candidates," the lawsuit filed in the Western District of Texas says.



https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/justice-department-sues-texas-over-republican-approved-redistricting-maps/ar-AARwW9e?li=BBnb7Kz

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Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks Announcing Lawsuit Against the State of Texas to Challenge Statewide Redistricting Plan

https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-delivers-remarks-announcing-lawsuit-against-state-1

Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta Delivers Remarks Announcing Lawsuit Against the State of Texas to Challenge Statewide Redistricting Plan

https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/associate-attorney-general-vanita-gupta-delivers-remarks-announcing-lawsuit-against-state

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Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act requires that state voting laws – including laws that draw electoral maps – provide eligible voters with an equal opportunity to participate in the democratic process and elect representatives of their choosing.

The complaint we filed today alleges that Texas has violated Section 2 by creating redistricting plans that deny or abridge the rights of Latino and Black voters to vote on account of their race, color or membership in a language minority group. In a moment, Associate Attorney General Gupta will describe our complaint in more detail.

As many of you know, in 2013, the Supreme Court effectively eliminated the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act, which had been the department’s best tool for protecting voting rights.

Earlier this year, I noted that this redistricting cycle would be the first to proceed since 1960 without the protection of preclearance. But I also said that the department would use all available authorities and resources to continue protecting the right to vote.

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Our complaint today alleges that the redistricting plans approved by the Texas state legislature and signed into law by the Governor will deny Black and Latino voters an equal opportunity to participate in the voting process and to elect representatives of their choice, in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Our complaint also alleges that several of those districts were drawn with discriminatory intent.

Texas’ 2021 redistricting plans were enacted through a rushed process, with minimal opportunity for public comment, without any expert testimony, and with an overall disregard for the massive minority population growth in Texas over the last decade. Texas’ population grew by 4 million people from 2010 to 2020, and 95% of that growth came from minority populations. Despite this significant increase in the number and proportion of eligible Latino and Black voters in Texas, the newly enacted redistricting plans will not allow minority voters an equal opportunity to elect representatives of their choice. Instead, our investigation determined that Texas’ redistricting plans will dilute the increased minority voting strength that should have developed from these significant demographic shifts.