DOJ Sues Texas

TX redistricting plan under the microscope 

The heavily gerrymandered maps violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Justice Department said, because they deny equal representation to the state’s Black and Latino voters.

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The lawsuit is the first the Justice Department has filed over gerrymandered maps during this year’s redistricting cycle. The department, which has filed numerous lawsuits against states that have restricted voting rights this year, warned in September that it would act against any state that moved too aggressively to gerrymander maps in a way that diluted minority representation.

That’s precisely what Texas did, the department alleged in the complaint filed Monday.

Texans of color are responsible for 95% of Texas’ population growth over the past decade, according to recent census figures. But the new maps significantly limit their political power, the department determined, citing the fact that while the minority population growth resulted in the state gaining two new seats in the U.S. House, lawmakers drew both districts to have white-majority populations.

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Under the new maps, white Texans would make up the majority population of 23 of the state’s 38 congressional districts, 89 of its 150 state House districts and 20 of its 31 state Senate districts, meaning a population that makes up roughly 40% of Texas as a whole would make up majorities in roughly 60% of its districts.

Latino Texans, who account for roughly 40% of the population, would make up the majority in just 20% of those districts. And Black Texans, who make up about 12% of the Texas population, would be the majority in less than 3% of districts.