Justice Department sues Texas over GOP-approved redistricting maps

The US Department of Justice sued the state of Texas for recently drawn political boundaries approved by the state’s Republican lawmakers and signed into law by Republican Governor Greg Abbott.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland said the new redistricting maps “deny Black and Latino voters an equal opportunity to participate in the voting process and elect representatives of their choice in violation of the Voting Rights Act.”

The action marks the second time that the Justice Department under Joe Biden’s administration has sued the state over voting rights violations.

The latest lawsuit follows other legal challenges from civil rights groups and Latino voters who have also argued that the maps dilute the electoral power of Latino and Black voters and disregard the state’s population growth.

Results of the 2020 US Census revealed a surge in population growth among people of colour in the state. The number of Latino residents grew by nearly 2 million over the last decade, and nearly all of the population gains fell within three major metropolitan areas – among some of the largest in the country.

That growth means the state will gain two more seats in the US Congress, as well as four seats in the state House.

US Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said several districts were “drawn with discriminatory intent,” noting that the two newly created districts for congressional seats will have white voting majorities.

The state has shown “decade after decade” its attempts to “deliberately dilute the voting strength of Latino and Black voters,” she said.

“The attorney general has made clear that the Justice department will not stand idly by unlawful attempts to restrict access to the ballot,” she added.

States are rolling out their once-a-decade redistricting plans to redraw the lines of political representation amid rapidly changing demographics and the GOP’s ongoing attempts to make voting more difficult while undermining the results of election outcomes.

But for the first time in decades, states are also redrawing those maps without federal oversight, after the US Supreme Court in 2013 tossed out a crucial element of the Voting Rights Act that requires jurisdictions with histories of discrimination – like Texas – to have federal “preclearance” before proposed rule changes can go into effect.

Without those safeguards, political boundaries in Texas were redrawn without minimal guardrails against racial discrimination or partisan abuse in one of the fastest-growing states in the country

This is a breaking news story. More follows...

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