![]() ![]() Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that it won’t referee partisan gerrymandering disputes - maps drawn to benefit a political party. The lawsuit also plays out during a changed legal landscape for redistricting challenges. The litigation comes as Republicans and Democrats jockey for an edge in the once-a-decade redistricting process, which has already reached new levels of gerrymandering. “Decade after decade, courts have found that Texas has enacted redistricting plans that deliberately dilute the voting strength of Latino and Black voters and that violate the Voting Rights Act.” “This is not the first time that Texas has acted to minimize the voting rights of its minority citizens,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said during a news conference with Attorney General Merrick Garland. It also argues the maps pack Black and Latino communities into bizarre-shaped districts - a Dallas-area one is described as “seahorse” shaped - while preserving seats for white Republicans. The lawsuit notes that most of Texas’ population growth over the past decade came from Black, Latino and Asian people, but alleges that the new maps scatter these voters across districts, diluting their votes and denying them opportunities to choose their representatives. It’s the Biden Justice Department’s first legal action challenging a state’s maps since states began redrawing their maps this year to account for population changes. The lawsuit claims the Republican-controlled state violated part of the Voting Rights Act in drawing new district boundaries for its congressional delegation and state legislature. AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The Justice Department sued Texas on Monday over its new redistricting maps, saying the plans discriminate against minority voters, particularly Latinos, who have fueled the state’s population boom.
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