The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 5, 2024
Today’s Script
(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
Black & Latinx voters sued Galveston County, TX in 2022 over racially gerrymandered voting maps intended to dilute the power of minority voters. The lower court judge in the case called the maps “mean-spirited” and “egregious,” but an appeals court just blocked minority coalitions from bringing such challenges.
In striking down the maps in 2023, the federal district court ruled that, QUOTE “[T]he enacted plan illegally dilutes the voting power of Galveston County’s Black and Latino voters by dismantling Precinct 3, the county’s historic and sole majority-minority commissioners precinct.”
In May, the full Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case. Overturning its own precedent, the majority ruled 12-6 August 1st not over whether the voting districts discriminated, but that the Voting Rights Act Section 2 didn’t specify that coalitions qualified to bring a case. Instead, they said, only a single minority “class” can qualify. Several other courts, including in the notoriously conservative Fifth Circuit, previously ruled in favor of claims from minority coalitions.
For the moment, the ruling affects only Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. But, expect challenges in other conservative courts, and likely the U.S. Supreme Court, using the same argument, as anti-voter forces continue to undercut the Voting Rights Act.
We’ve linked the decision and the groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Campaign Legal Center – Explainer Petteway v. Galveston County, TexasAmerican Democracy Minute – Galveston County, TX Racial Gerrymandering Case Could Weaken Voting Rights Act Protections for Mixed Minority Communities
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit – Decision in Petteway v. Galveston County, TX
Texas Tribune – Voting Rights Act doesn’t protect coalitions of racial or ethnic groups challenging political maps, appeals court rules
Democracy Docket – 5th Circuit: Minority Coalitions Cannot Sue Under VRA in Galveston Case
Groups Taking Action:
LULAC Galveston, Campaign Legal Center, Texas Civil Rights Project, Southern Coalition for Social Justice
Check Your Voter Registration
- U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
- USA Vote Foundation – Registration, Eligibility, State Election Office Links
- Vote.Gov – Register to Vote in Your State
- Vote.Org – Check Your Registration to Vote
Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!
Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org
Want ADM sent to your email? Sign up here!
Are you a radio station? Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX
#Democracy #DemocracyNews #VotingRights #TexasNews #EndGerrymandering