Senator West says Court’s ruling confirms that state’s maps meant to limit minority voting power.
Today’s ruling by a federal three-judge panel adds yet another layer of proof to Democrats’ contention all along that Texas went too far in redrawing Congressional, Senate and state House maps during last year’s legislative session. The court ruled that the maps in fact violate the federal Voting Rights Act. The state in this regard had to prove that the maps as passed by the Legislature would not discriminate by limiting the ability of minority voters to elect a candidate of their choosing. They failed. So futile was their case that the state’s lawyers attempted to shift the longstanding burden of proof from the state, to the Justice Department (DOJ) and the defendants. The court also said no to this argument.
This ruling comes with just over two months remaining before the November 6 elections where some have stated their willingness to do whatever it takes to make President Barack Obama “a one-term president.” That willingness, in addition to redrawing state and congressional maps in a manner ruled discriminatory by the DOJ and now the courts, also extends to passing Voter ID laws across the country that will further suppress the will of those who disagree with their efforts to turn back the clock, from having their voices heard at the polls.
Today’s ruling is also a victory for my North Texas colleague Senator Wendy Davis, Democratic Congressional District 33 nominee Marc Veasey, and friends from the Texas NAACP, MALDEF and LULAC who fought the Republican maps tooth and nail from Austin and San Antonio all the way to Washington.
