Texas Republicans have pursued a cynical strategy to draw overtly partisan maps by undermining the voting strength of Hispanic and African American voters. They attempted to avoid strong enforcement of the US Voting Rights Act by avoiding the US Department of Justice and seeking approval directly from the federal courts. The GOP strategy has failed badly. After squandering hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in taxpayer money on legal and administrative fees, the GOP plans cannot be used for the 2012 elections.
The Court order states:
“Having carefully considered the entire record and the parties’ arguments, the Court finds and concludes that the State of Texas used an improper standard or methodology to determine which districts afford minority voters the ability to elect their preferred candidates of choice and that there are material issues of fact in dispute that prevent this Court from entering declaratory judgment that the three redistricting plans meet the requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.” (emphasis added)
and
“the District Court for the Western District of Texas must designate a substitute interim plan for the 2012 election cycle by the end of November.”
