Racially Gerrymandered Districts Overturned in Texas

What’s the story?

On Tuesday a federal court, three-judge panel in San Antonio, TX ruled that two Texas congressional districts, around Corpus Christi and Austin, were racially gerrymandered. District boundaries must be redrawn immediately. One of the districts is represented by a Republican and one by a Democrat, so both parties may be affected by the redistricting.

Why does it matter?

Racial gerrymandering, the organization of voting districts to dilute or disadvantage the votes of racial minorities, is illegal under the Voting Rights Act. The Texas Tribune reports the state defended the districting, arguing that the intention was to gerrymander along party lines, not according to race. But race often coincides with party affiliation, so the court ruled they had managed to accomplish both.

Corpus Christi Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold’s District 27 was ruled by the judges to have intentionally deprived Hispanic voters "of their opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice." District 35, represented by Austin Democrat Rep. Lloyd Doggett was described as "an impermissible racial gerrymander" by the judges because it illegally used race as the predominant factor in drawing the district.

The court gave the state only three days to say whether or not the Texas legislature would take on the task of redistricting before the 2018 elections. Otherwise, "the state and its legal foes will head back to court on Sept. 5 to begin re-drawing the congressional map."

Though both parties engage in partisan gerrymandering, multiples studies have shown the Republican party has done a much better job at using redistricting to their advantage. The common assumption on the Left is that fixing partisan gerrymanders will benefit Democrats, but in the Texas case representatives of both parties may be effected.

What do you think?

Are you concerned about partisan gerrymandering? If redistricting means that your representation becomes more conservative rather than less, what does that mean for you?

Tell us in the comments and then use the Take Action button to tell your reps what you think!

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— Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: Erik (HASH) Hersman via Flickr / Creative Commons)