‘Carved Up and Wiped Off the Map’: Federal Appeals Court Rules Minority Voting Coalitions In Texas Are Not Protected Under Voting Rights Act

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a longstanding legal precedent that allows different racial and ethnic groups to form coalitions to make claims of racial gerrymandering and discrimination under the Voting Rights Act to challenge voter redistricting plans. The court ruled 12-5 against the U.S. Justice Department, civil rights groups, Black and Hispanic voters and other plaintiffs in favor of arguments made by officials representing Galveston County in Texas. Their decision, which applies to the states within the 5th Circuit — Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi — will likely be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, reported Houston Public Media. The case arose in 2021 when the Republican-majority Galveston County Commissioners Court redrew the county’s political boundaries in a way that broke up a voting district that had previously grouped together Black and Hispanic communities, which together make up 39 percent of the county’s population and tend to vote for Democrats, according to CNN. The poll is ready on the first day of early voting for the Primary Runoff Elections on Monday, May 20, 2024, at the Metropolitan MultiService Center in Houston. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images) Under the county’s new plan, white voters, who largely support...