Texas sued over new redistricting maps

The Justice Department sued Texas on Monday over its new redistricting maps, saying the plans discriminate against minority voters, particularly Latinos, who have fueled the state’s population boom.

The lawsuit claims the Republican-controlled state violated part of the Voting Rights Act in drawing new district boundaries for its congressional delegation and state legislature. It’s the Biden Justice Department’s first legal action challenging a state’s maps since states began redrawing their maps this year to account for population changes.

The lawsuit notes that most of Texas’ population growth over the past decade came from Black, Latino and Asian people, but alleges that the new maps drawn by state Republicans dilute these communities’ votes by denying them opportunities to choose their representatives. It says the maps pack Black and especially Latino communities into bizarre-shaped districts — a Dallas-area one is described as “seahorse” shaped —-while preserving seats for white Republicans.

“This is not the first time that Texas has acted to minimize the voting rights of its minority citizens,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said during a news conference with Attorney General Merrick Garland. “Decade after decade, courts have found that Texas has enacted redistricting plans that deliberately dilute the voting strength of Latino and Black voters and that violate the Voting Rights Act.”

The litigation comes as Republicans and Democrats jockey for an edge in the once-adecade redistricting process, which has already reached new levels of gerrymandering. The lawsuit also plays out during a changed legal landscape for redistricting challenges. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that it won’t referee partisan gerrymandering disputes - maps drawn to benefit a political party.