FEDERAL COURT RULES TEXAS CAN MAKE VOTING MAPS DESPITE “GRAVE CONCERNS”

  

A federal court Wednesday ruled that Texas can change voting maps without supervision, despite “grave concerns” and findings that Republicans racially discriminated while trying to strengthen their majorities in Congress and the state Legislature.

The ruling comes ahead of the 2020 census, and could clear the way for the state to create voting maps in 2021 without federal courts first looking to see if minority voters might be marginalized.

Hispanic growth is a major factor in Texas’ growing population, with census data saying the state added nearly nine new Hispanic residents for every white resident in 2018.

The three-judge panel in San Antonio expressed concerns over the state’s ability to redraw maps fairly, citing past conduct.  In 2017, the same court found that Republican-drawn voting maps approved six years prior by former Governor Rick Perry purposefully looked to dilute the voting power of minorities.

However, following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that any problems with state maps had been fixed, the judges said there was insufficient reason to mandate federal supervision.

State Democrats called the decision a reminder of what is at stake in the 2020 election.