Texan authorities have caught themselves in the middle of a political storm, as the redistricting the Congressional map for the voters, is allegedly racially bias. The Governor Greg Abbott and Secretary of State for Texas John Scott, have been framed for gerrymandering.
The case has been filed by coming together of various civil rights groups, such as American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas, Our Vote Texas and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ).
The Republicans have spoken to the media in its regard, and stated that, the map was “drawn blind to race” and was thoroughly vetted, to ensure it did not violate Voting Rights Act in October.
Allison Riggs, co-executive director and chief counsel for voting rights at SCSJ, spoke of the map as “intentional discrimination of voters of color in clear violation”
He further added that “Texas’ latest gerrymanders seek to blunt the political power of fast-growing populations of Latino, Black and Asian American and Pacific Islander voters by carving up their chance to elect their preferred candidates to the United States Congress, the Texas House of Representatives, and the Texas Senate.”
Many see this as a process of disempowering voter groups, and attack the country’s civics and history education. The targeted group of people of color, Latinos, Asian Americas, and Islanders, do not hold majority in the new division of districts. This comes as a shocker, as according to the 2020 census, over 90% of the new residents in the State in the last 10 years are people of color.
Therefore it clearly reeks of creating a bias in favor of the Republicans, by maintaining a dominant hand over them. This clearly violates the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments of the Constitution, as per these civil rights groups.
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