Feds: Texas voting maps deliberately discriminated

[TexasTowelie]

Source: AP

SAN ANTONIO —

The U.S. Justice Department told judges Monday that Texas lawmakers carefully crafted electoral maps marginalizing minority voters despite the state’s exploding Hispanic population in a deliberate effort to racially discriminate and protect conservative incumbents.

Attorneys for Texas countered that the Legislature did the best it could, given that it had to devise maps partisan enough to pass the Republican majority, while dismissing suggestions of intentional discrimination.

The case, which opened before a three-judge federal court panel in San Antonio, concerns electoral districts drawn in 2011 for U.S. House elections, as well as voting maps for the Texas House. It could also have national implications, because the Justice Department has joined and is arguing that the Voting Rights Act should still apply to Texas despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling weakening many of its key portions.

Last year, the high court found that Texas and 14 other states with a history of voting discrimination no longer need permission from Washington under the Voting Rights Act before changing the way elections are held. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has since vowed to preserve voter safeguards after the ruling, and the Justice Department is now using the San Antonio trial to argue that Texas still needs federal approval under a lesser-known portion of the act.

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/feds-texas-voting-maps-deliberately-discriminated/ngfrz/

[rpannier]

1. As far as the USSC is concerned

You can't have too many of those non-white, non-Christian, non-uber conservatives voting in any elections

[Demeter]

2. IF this is the Holder/Obama Plan to save the Party and win elections

it sucks big time.

[McCamy Taylor]

3. Enforcing voting laws is important. So, I hope you mean they are not going far

enough in their efforts to support voting rights. Because if every American had an equal right to vote and have that vote count, the Dems would win. The GOP steals elections, they do not win them.

[littlemissmartypants]

4. Kicking. Thank you. nt

[DeSwiss]

5. There should be harsher penalties.....

...for repeat offenders.

- Like taking away the right to draw the lines until the concept of fairness is clearly understood.

Which for Republicans would be never.....

K&R

[Dustlawyer]

6. They split our Democratic county in half and added in an affluent area North of Houston over 100

miles away. At one point on the map the District is 15 feet wide. Democratic Congressman, Nick Lampson, was knocked out for a former Republican Judge, Ted Poe, who ordered chemical castration for a rapist, and made petty thieves stand outside stores they stole from with sandwich boards telling of their crimes.
In an odd twist, Nick Lampson had a home he moved to in Tom Delay's District when Tom got into trouble for his campaign finance shenanigans. Nick won the Republican District when two Republicans split their vote with one running Independent.
Remember it was Tom Delay who pushed the Texas Republicans to redistrict in between the census when they would have had to wait 5 more years. Several Democrats were pursued by the Feds for fleeing the state to avoid a quorum.

[Jakes Progress]

7. So what do you think the SCOTUS

will do when this reaches them?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

8. This is Texas. A complete denial that racism has ANYTHING to do with this,...

.....must be combined with a general threat (with guns) against Liberuls for trying to stir up the (insert racial slur here).

[sakabatou]

9. Well duh. This is what happens when you strike down the VRA

[Stuart G]

10. Very Important...k and r.