A panel of federal judges in the District of Columbia today will begin hearing testimony for and against the maps of new voting districts passed last June by the Texas Legislature.
The three judges are expected to decide in hearings continuing through Jan. 26 whether the state’s redistricting violated the federal Voting Rights Act and discriminated against minority voters, according to story today by the Houston Chronicle.
The panel set Feb. 3 to hear final arguments in the case, which was argued before the Supreme Court Jan. 9.
The timing for decisions in the two court cases will dictate when Texas can hold its primary elections. The March 6 primary has already been pushed back to April 3. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is unhappy because he thinks the primary will probably be pushed back again, an Associated Press story today says.
Today’s hearing was made necessary because the Department of Justice in a pre-clearance review found the Legislature violated the Voting Rights Act. Texas is among the states the voting act singled out for its history of minority voter discrimination, requiring them to get federal approval for any changes made to their voting procedures.
The Department of Justice called on a three-judge panel in San Antonio to draw a new map, which Texas Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott challenged before the Supreme Court.
The panel set Feb. 3 to hear final arguments in the case, which was argued before the Supreme Court Jan. 9.
The timing for decisions in the two court cases will dictate when Texas can hold its primary elections. The March 6 primary has already been pushed back to April 3. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is unhappy because he thinks the primary will probably be pushed back again, an Associated Press story today says.
Today’s hearing was made necessary because the Department of Justice in a pre-clearance review found the Legislature violated the Voting Rights Act. Texas is among the states the voting act singled out for its history of minority voter discrimination, requiring them to get federal approval for any changes made to their voting procedures.
The Department of Justice called on a three-judge panel in San Antonio to draw a new map, which Texas Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott challenged before the Supreme Court.
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Contact Mark Lisheron at 512-299-2318 or mark@texaswatchdog.org or on Twitter at @marktxwatchdog.
Keep up with all the latest news from Texas Watchdog. Fan our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Scribd, and fan us on YouTube. Join our network on de.licio.us, and put our RSS feeds in your newsreader. We're also on MySpace, Digg, FriendFeed, and tumblr.
Graphic by flickr user Truthout.org, used via a Creative Commons license.
Contact Mark Lisheron at 512-299-2318 or mark@texaswatchdog.org or on Twitter at @marktxwatchdog.
Keep up with all the latest news from Texas Watchdog. Fan our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Scribd, and fan us on YouTube. Join our network on de.licio.us, and put our RSS feeds in your newsreader. We're also on MySpace, Digg, FriendFeed, and tumblr.
Graphic by flickr user Truthout.org, used via a Creative Commons license.
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