Two federal judges have ruled that Texas lawmakers drew congressional maps to discriminate against minority voters, especially Hispanics. The dissenting judge countered that the ruling is “fatally infected, from start to finish, with the misunderstanding that race, rather than partisan advantage,” was the intent behind the 2011 maps.
Two federal judges have released an opinion that accuses Lone Star State legislators of drawing a congressional map in a “rushed and secretive process” that intended to discriminate against Hispanic and Democrat voters. The only problem says the dissenting jurist–the panel could not legally issue the decision because the Fifth Circuit made clear that after Texas repealed the 2011 plan, “the case became moot and eliminated the district’s jurisdiction.”
Leading Texas Republican lawmakers and officials publicly endorsed a bill that would make permanent a voter ID “safety net” allowing those without proper documentation to cast a regular ballot if they sign an affidavit.
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear Texas’ appeal from an adverse ruling in the Texas voter ID case.
Just before city candidates will begin to sign up for running for office, a federal judge has issued a judgment and injunction prohibiting the City of Pasadena from using what she ruled was an unconstitutional redistricting plan. The municipality will also be placed under federal “preclearance” for six years–requiring Justice Department approval to any changes to election rules.
In an appearance on Huntsville, AL’s WBHP-AM’s “The Morning Show with Toni & Gary,” Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), who is under consideration by Gov. Robert Bentley (R-AL) to replace Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) should he be confirmed to be U.S. Attorney
Pasadena, Texas, will be monitored by the Justice Department now that a federal judge has ruled that the City violated the Voting Rights Act by intentionally changing its city council districts to decrease Hispanic influence. The City, which the court ruled has a “long history of discrimination against minorities,” will have to get permission from the DOJ to make any changes in election policy going forward, otherwise known as pre-clearance.
A Democrat senator from Austin, Texas, has pre-filed a bill that if passed, would add a college or university ID to the list of forms of identification that could be used for voting in Texas.
WASHINGTON—Saturday the U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency stay blocking an order from the Ninth Circuit appeals court—an order that had stopped Arizona from enforcing a law that prevents unauthorized persons from collecting early voting ballots across that state.
Comparing allegations of racial discrimination to a government cover-up of extraterrestrials at Area 51, prominent federal appeals judges criticized their court’s invalidating of Texas’ voter ID law—a ruling that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton now promises to take to the U.S. Supreme Court.
An agreement between the State of Texas and groups that attempted to strike down the state’s photo voter identification law came to an agreement Wednesday that will keep the election integrity policy largely in place for the November elections and thereafter.
A voting rights lawsuit filed against the State of Texas alleges that the makeup of the Supreme Court and Criminal Court of Appeals do not sufficiently reflect the Latino population.
Shortly after an appeals court ruled Texas’ voter identification law to have discriminatory effects requiring fixes before the November election, a federal judge released guidelines for a remedy on Thursday.
Texas’ photo voter identification law was ruled discriminatory under the Voting Rights Act Wednesday by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
A decision from a federal appeals court — to likely be made this week — is expected to determine whether the Texas photo voter identification requirement will be enforced for the 2016 Election.
Election politics and race are back at the Supreme Court this spring, as first one, and now two, states fight to get the justices to reverse lower-court decisions that threw out the legislative district lines adopted by state lawmakers, decisions holding that those maps included gerrymandered districts that violate the law.
Latino activists in Georgia say Spanish-speaking voters should be granted ballots and voting aids in their native tongue.
On Tuesday, the Democratic governor of Kentucky, sucker-punching the largely GOP state one last time before he leaves office, issued an executive order granting the right to vote to roughly 140,000 nonviolent felons whose sentences have been completed.
The state of Texas has asked the Supreme Court of the United States to set aside the $1 million plus in attorney’s fees awarded to the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, the Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force, the Texas State Conference of Branches of the NAACP, former state senator Wendy Davis, and others, who challenged Texas’ redistricting maps.
In his weekly address posted on Saturday, President Barack Obama observed the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and insisted that Congress has more work to do in protecting everyone’s “access” to the polls. Transcript as follows: Hi, everybody.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton urged people to fight “efforts to disempower and disenfranchise people of color, and poor people, and young people” on Thursday’s broadcast of “Keeping It Real with Al Sharpton.” Hillary stated, “There is doubt that the
Attorney General Eric Holder’s remarks in Selma, AL, “echoed”—according to a report by The Hill—Obama’s comments on Saturday that “the march is not yet over.”
The Bloody Sunday 50th anniversary commemoration continued Sunday with gatherings and other events in Selma before a group retraces the steps that helped secure equal voting rights 50 years ago.
President Obama urged Congress to “restore” the Voting Rights Act during his remarks recounting the history of the Civil Rights Era and discussing the history of the US and its present state in Selma, Alabama on Saturday marking the 50th
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that those who thought the legacy of past racism has been solved were “blind” and criticized Congress for its lack of work on civil rights and bipartisanship while expressing a wish that “we
