A three-judge panel of federal judges ruled in August that the redistricting boundaries passed by the Republican-controlled Texas state legislature are in violation of the Voting Rights Act. To quote the judges' ruling:
“Texas ... seeks from this court a declaratory judgement that its
redistricting plans will neither have 'the purpose nor will have the
effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or
color, or [language minority group]. We conclude
that Texas has failed to show that any of the redistricting plans merits
preclearance.”
For the November elections, Texas will have to make do with stop-gap maps drawn by federal judges as there is not time to go through the process to come up with new maps before then.
It is worth noting that part of the 2012 Texas Republican Party Platform calls for the repeal of the Voting Rights Act.
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