Justice Department sues Texas over redistricting maps, claiming Voting Rights Act violations

The Justice Department on Monday sued Texas over its new redistricting maps, arguing the new congressional and state legislative districts were drawn to dilute the electoral representation of Latino and Black voters in violation of the Voting Rights Act. This is at least the fifth lawsuit challenging the new districts, drawn by Republicans in the state Legislature, on racial discrimination grounds.

The Justice Department noted that while 95 percent of the population growth that allowed Texas to claim two new congressional districts came from Latino, Black, and Asian residents — half of the state's 4 million new inhabitants over the past decade were Hispanic — the number of Latino-majority districts shrank from eight to seven, and the number of majority Black districts withered from one to zero.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.