Tag Archives: Voting Rights Act

Justice Department files another voter ID lawsuit

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

In North Carolina this time. The Justice Department filed suit against North Carolina on Monday, charging that the Tar Heel State’s new law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls violates the Voting Rights Act by discriminating against … Continue reading →

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Court rules DOJ can intervene in 2011 redistricting case

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Redistricting: The San Antonio court entered an order [Tuesday] allowing the Justice Department into the Texas redistricting case as an intervenor. In somewhat of a surprise, however, the decision was 2-1, with Circuit Judge Jerry Smith dissenting. The court … Continue reading →

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The tab for the redistricting fight

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The bill is coming due. Civil rights groups are now contending that since the 2011 maps were never used and ultimately were altered by a court that they are entitled to be reimbursed for money spent fighting [Attorney General Greg] … Continue reading →

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Sen. Garcia joins the fight in Pasadena

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Good. State Sen. Sylvia Garcia on Tuesday joined forces with four Pasadena council members and a community organizing group to mount a campaign against a new redistricting plan they say is designed to dilute the voting strength of Pasadena’s growing … Continue reading →

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Third lawsuit filed against the voter ID law

Posted on September 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The more, the merrier. Two groups representing minority voters and officeholders sued to block the state’s new Voter ID law, which will be used for the first time in a statewide Texas election this November — barring intervention by a … Continue reading →

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Once again, voter ID is a non-solution to a non-problem

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Greg Abbott’s record is all the proof you need of this. Attorney General Greg Abbott champions a requirement for voters to show photo identification to prevent ballot fraud. But such a rule would have deterred just a few of the … Continue reading →

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The voter ID effect

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The conventional wisdom is that we’re unlikely to see the full effect of the voter ID law until next year. The true test of how voter ID will affect voters — and whether it will sway elections — won’t come … Continue reading →

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All about Pasadena

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Meet Pasadena Mayor Johnny Isbell, the man behind the redistricting scheme there that we’ve been talking about lately. For more than four decades, Pasadena Mayor Johnny Isbell has had his feet sunk deep into the city’s political landscape of smokestacks … Continue reading →

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2011 maps not moot, 2014 primaries to be held on time

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Redistricting: [Friday] afternoon, the San Antonio court entered an order denying a request by the State of Texas to dismiss claims about the 2011 maps on grounds on mootness. The court’s order also granted requests by African-American and Hispanic … Continue reading →

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Redistricting and voter ID lawsuit updates

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Redistricting, a typically thorough look at where things stand with redistricting and voter ID litigation in the three courts – San Antonio, where the redistricting litigation has been ongoing and is likely due for some action; Corpus Christi, … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed against Galveston County redistricting

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Expect more of this going forward. A Galveston County plan slashing the number of justice-of-the-peace districts from eight to four intentionally discriminates against minority voters and should be blocked, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday. The lawsuit comes exactly … Continue reading →

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More redistricting shenanigans on the way

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The city of Galveston prepares to make like Pasadena. [Gulf Coast Interfaith], which includes representatives of the NAACP and others, sent a letter Thursday to the city of Galveston’s attorney also questioning the wisdom of the city seeking to make … Continue reading →

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Dallas County to sue state over voter ID

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The shoe is on the other foot. Democratic Dallas County commissioners narrowly agreed [Tuesday] afternoon to join a lawsuit against Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry over state efforts to enforce a controversial voter identification law. Democratic Commissioner Elba Garcia stepped … Continue reading →

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DOJ files suit against Texas’ voter ID law and redistricting maps

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Excellent. The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday that it will again seek to dismantle Texas’ voter ID law, this time with a lawsuit alleging the measure violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The department also said on Thursday that … Continue reading →

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Pasadena proceeds with its needless redistricting

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Except for one agenda item which drew a large crowd, many public speakers, an unusually long time of councilmember’s explanations and a 5-4 vote, Tuesday’s (August 20) Pasadena City Council meeting was “Regular.” Their … Continue reading →

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Abbott versus Garza on voter ID

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

They’ve battled in court, and now they’re battling in the news. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on Monday called a lawyer for the Mexican American Legislative Caucus unethical for his suggestion that people in the Rio Grande Valley attempt to … Continue reading →

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From Shelby to Pasadena

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

You might have noticed this Chron editorial from last week. After former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s fall from grace, we thought that Texas politicians would know better than pursue mid-decade redistricting. Not so in Pasadena, where Mayor Johnny Isbell … Continue reading →

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More views of Abbott’s Section 3 brief

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Redistricting: Claim: It’s Just Partisan Politics Attorney General Abbott’s second claim is in many ways even more fundamental because it gets to the heart of what the Voting Rights Act is supposed to do. That claim asserts that: [R]edistricting … Continue reading →

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Texas says “No preclearance now, no preclearance forever!”

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, the plaintiffs in the redistricting lawsuit against the state of Texas have filed briefs arguing that the state should still be subject to preclearance under Section 3 of the Voting Rights Act. They have been joined in … Continue reading →

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Obama pledges to keep fighting for the Voting Rights Act

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s hold him to that. President Barack Obama assured civil rights leaders Monday that he will aggressively protect minority voters in Texas and other states, a month after the Supreme Court ended decades of federal election scrutiny. “The Supreme Court … Continue reading →

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From the “She told you so” department

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

No one could have seen this coming. Well, no, pretty much anyone could have. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she’s not surprised that Southern states have pushed ahead with tough voter identification laws and other measures since the Supreme Court … Continue reading →

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Justice Department to push for Section 3 in Texas

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Bring it. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced on Thursday that the Justice Department would ask a court to require Texas to get permission from the federal government before making voting changes in that state for the next decade. … Continue reading →

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From the “Wooing Latino Voters: You’re Doing It Wrong” department

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Greg Abbott visits McAllen and gives the locals his best reason why they should vote for him. Gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott called for unity between Republican candidates and Hispanics in McAllen on Monday, with the promise of being in South … Continue reading →

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Redistricting plaintiffs go for Section 3

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a brand new world out there. Minority-rights groups are charting “new territory” in the fight against Texas’ redistricting plan, using a provision of the Voting Rights Act that cites discriminatory intent as part of an effort to maintain federal … Continue reading →

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PPP polling miscellany

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Public Policy Polling has some additional results from its latest venture into Texas. -By a 54/21 margin Texas voters say that they support the Voting Rights Act, including 45/23 even with Republicans. Only 29% of voters say that they favor … Continue reading →

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Redistricting tango continues in San Antonio

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

More to the point, the redistricting litigation continues, at least for the time being. A panel of federal judges denied the state’s request to dismiss the case, though they left open the possibility that they could do that later. And … Continue reading →

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Clock strikes midnight for North Forest

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This was a tough blow for NFISD. North Forest school officials lost one of their final court battles Wednesday, making the district’s state-ordered merger into HISD five days from now increasingly likely. U.S. District Judge David Hittner rejected the last-ditch … Continue reading →

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The 2011 maps are officially dead

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Rick Perry has signed the redistricting bills, thus making the 2012 interim maps the official state-sanctioned maps and thus dropping any further pursuit of the maps drawn by the 2011 Lege. On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Perry signed all three redistricting … Continue reading →

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Not so fast on voter ID enforcement

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Oops. Top Texas leaders acted without legal authority when they claimed to be moving forward with implementing the state’s controversial voter ID law, a veteran Supreme Court watcher said today. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Secretary of State John … Continue reading →

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RIP, Section 5

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

By now you are well aware that SCOTUS has dealt a blow to the Voting Rights Act. They actually left Section 5, which is what requires certain parts of the country (including Texas) to get preclearance on voting-related changes, intact, … Continue reading →

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The special session won’t be so short

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The original idea behind the special session on redistricting was that it would be a quickie – gavel in, vote to adopt the interim maps as permanent, maybe vote on a few wingnut wish list items, and gavel out again. … Continue reading →

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Justice Department engaged in North Forest closure

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

A possible ray of hope for supporters of North Forest ISD, which is still hoping to survive past July 1 when the TEA’s order for it to be subsumed into HISD takes effect. The chief of the Justice Department’s voting … Continue reading →

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Many questions at the redistricting hearing

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the Trib: The Legislature is currently considering whether to ratify maps drawn by the three federal judges and used in the 2012 elections. It became clear during Wednesday’s hearing that the judges and the lawyers in the case agree … Continue reading →

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Why a special session on redistricting won’t resolve anything

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Redistricting: Intentional Fragmentation  In the other parts of the map, redistricting plaintiffs contend that the Texas Legislature intentionally diluted African-American and Hispanic voting strength by fragmenting cohesive communities. This fragmentation, they argue, is especially pronounced in the DFW … Continue reading →

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