The Austin American-Statesman
reports that Texas will have to defend its redistricting plans in
court, as a “panel of federal judges…ordered a trial on the state’s
new redistricting plan for the state House, state Senate, and the U.S.
House of Representatives.”
“The redistricting maps drawn earlier this
year by the Legislature must get approval from the federal government –
in this case the Washington court – before the new maps can be enacted. A
history of racial and ethnic discrimination in Texas and several other
mostly southern states necessitates pre-clearance, which is outlined the
Voting Rights Act… Another panel of federal judges in San Antonio has
been hearing from the Mexican American Legislative Caucus and other
plaintiffs suing the state for creating redistricting maps that they say
dilute the minority vote and violate the U.S. Constitution. As the
Washington court ponders pre-clearance of the maps, the San Antonio
court has been working on creating interim maps to be used for the March
primaries.”
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