Tag Archives: Voting Rights Act

Fifth Circuit pauses vote harvesting injunction

Posted on October 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Here they come to do what they do. A federal appeals court has temporarily reinstated portions of Texas’ 2021 voting law regulating ballot handling, ruling that a judge’s previous decision to strike certain rules came too close to the 2024 … Continue reading →

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More of the omnibus voter suppression bill blocked

Posted on October 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Better (very) late than never. Certain provisions of Texas’ sweeping 2021 voting law that restrict voter assistance violate the federal Voting Rights Act and cannot be enforced, a federal judge in Texas ruled Friday. Among the rules struck down by … Continue reading →

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Vote harvesting provision of omnibus voter suppression law SB1 blocked in federal court

Posted on September 30, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Very timely, even if it took forever to get here. A federal judge ruled on Saturday that part of a Texas law that enacted new voting restrictions violated the U.S. Constitution by being too vague and restricting free speech. The ruling, made by … Continue reading →

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Spring Branch ISD single member district lawsuit trial concludes

Posted on September 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Now we wait. The federal trial between Spring Branch ISD and a parent alleging the district violated the Voting Rights Act sheds light on what the plaintiffs characterized as vast inequities fueled by a lack of elected representation from the … Continue reading →

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Trial begins in Spring Branch ISD single member district lawsuit

Posted on September 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Another big case in court this week. A lawsuit against Spring Branch ISD got its day in court Monday, after three years floating in the legal ether waiting for rulings from similar cases to play out. The suit, filed by … Continue reading →

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Full Fifth Circuit overturns Galveston redistricting ruling

Posted on August 5, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Terrible. They’re just making this shit up as they go. Distinct minority groups cannot join together in coalitions to claim their votes are diluted in redistricting cases under the Voting Rights Act, a divided federal appeals court ruled Thursday, acknowledging … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over Angleton ISD at large districts

Posted on July 1, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Add this one to the list. A lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges that Angleton ISD is violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by denying fair representation to Hispanic voters by using an at-large system to elect all of its trustees. … Continue reading →

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Full Fifth Circuit hears Galveston redistricting case

Posted on May 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Always hard to feel any optimism when these guys are involved. Conservatives on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals occasionally sounded like Fox News talking heads Tuesday as they weighed whether coalitions composed of multiple minority groups are protected under … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over Humble ISD’s lack of single member districts

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Add another to the pile. A former Humble ISD Spanish teacher sued the district Thursday, alleging trustees and administrators violated the Voting Rights Act by holding all at-large elections for the school board. The lawsuit, filed by Brewer Storefront, the … Continue reading →

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The continuing problems of At Large-only school boards

Posted on March 30, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Houston Landing take a look at the big picture. In Katy and several Houston-area districts, school boards have employed an election system — known as “at-large districts” — that has contributed to most trustees living in wealthier neighborhoods, a Houston … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit does its thing with Galveston redistricting

Posted on December 13, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Death, taxes, and the Fifth Circuit being terrible. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked a new political map imposed on Galveston County by a lower court from taking effect. Plaintiffs are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to … Continue reading →

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Spring Branch ISD single member district lawsuit on hold as federal courts screw around with VRA

Posted on December 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Frustrating. A federal lawsuit that aims to change Spring Branch ISD’s election system to bring more representation to the school board will likely be delayed for months, pending decisions in several other cases that could impact the legality of the … Continue reading →

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Galveston ordered to use its current map for 2024

Posted on December 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Pending the Fifth Circuit, of course. A federal judge ruled Galveston County must keep its old commissioner precinct map in place for the 2024 election while a federal appeals court mulls overturning its precedent and allowing new maps which do … Continue reading →

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Yet another effort to kill the Voting Rights Act

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Just a reminder that the Fifth Circuit isn’the only home for terrible appellate judges. A divided federal appellate panel took a pipe to the knees of the Voting Rights Act Monday, handing down an eyebrow-raising decision that would severely curtail … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit upholds (*) Galveston redistricting ruling

Posted on November 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

With an asterisk, as noted in the title. A federal appeals court Friday ruled that Galveston County commissioners violated the U.S. Voting Rights Act by eliminating the only majority-minority district in its latest redistricting process. The 5th Circuit Court of … Continue reading →

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Galveston redistricting ruling paused

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The Fifth Circuit strikes again. Less than a week after a federal judge ruled Galveston County’s precinct maps violated the Voting Rights Act, the U.S Fifth Circuit Court issued a stay on the order. U.S. Circuit Court Judge Jeffery V. … Continue reading →

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Galveston County redistricting ruled illegal

Posted on October 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. Galveston County Commissioners Court violated the Voting Rights Act when it approved a 2021 map that greatly limited voting power for Black and Latino voters in the county, a judge ruled Friday. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge … Continue reading →

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The lawsuit over the omnibus voter suppression law has begun

Posted on September 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Settle in, this will take awhile. Two years after voting rights groups challenged Texas Republicans’ sweeping overhaul of its voting and election laws, the case comes to trial Monday in a federal court in San Antonio. The lengthy roster of … Continue reading →

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Part of the omnibus voter suppression law struck down

Posted on August 20, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news. A federal judge in San Antonio ruled this week that it is illegal for Texas elections officials to reject mail-in ballots and the applications for them over ID mistakes on elections paperwork. The requirement was part of … Continue reading →

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Galveston redistricting lawsuit gets underway

Posted on August 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This could be a big one. n the home of Juneteenth, the culmination of Galveston County’s decade-long effort to undermine the political power of Black and Latino voters is on trial. In the only county-level redistricting case which the federal … Continue reading →

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Louisiana’s turn to (maybe) fix its racial gerrymander

Posted on June 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

They’re on the clock. The Supreme Court on Monday denied Louisiana’s attempt to block a lower court’s order that it redraw its congressional maps. That court found that the state had likely diluted the power of Black voters in violation … Continue reading →

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Another look at Texas redistricting litigation after the Alabama SCOTUS ruling

Posted on June 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

An explainer from the Trib. The state faces an assortment of legal challenges to its congressional and statehouse maps, including allegations of intentional discrimination, vote dilution and racial gerrymandering. For example: In the Rio Grande Valley, the plaintiffs allege map-drawers … Continue reading →

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A long look at Spring Branch ISD

Posted on June 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Houston Landing goes deep. With only a week left before the May 6 election, school-board candidate David Lopez and a team of volunteers set out to block walk in the Spring Branch neighborhoods north of Interstate 10, trying to accomplish … Continue reading →

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Will the SCOTUS ruling on Alabama redistricting affect Texas?

Posted on June 11, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s start here. In a surprise win for voting rights activists, the U.S. Supreme Court breathed new life into the Civil Rights Act and may have paved the way to end Texas’s gerrymandered district. The case, Allen v. Milligan, came … Continue reading →

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Harris County to sue over those two new election laws

Posted on May 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I wish I felt more optimistic about this. Harris County will file a lawsuit challenging two Republican-backed election bills headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk, County Attorney Christian Menefee announced Wednesday. At issue are two measures that apply only to Harris County, including one that abolishes … Continue reading →

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House re-passes its redistricting map

Posted on April 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Done and done. The Texas House on Wednesday reapproved the map of districts for its 150 seats, which was redrawn in 2021 and fortified the Republican majority while diluting the voting strength of Hispanic and Black voters. The House made … Continue reading →

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Second federal complaint filed over TEA takeover of HISD

Posted on April 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the ACLU, the Houston NAACP, LULAC #19, and the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday regarding the Texas Education Agency’s … Continue reading →

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Asking the feds to stop the TEA takeover

Posted on March 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t hurt to ask. U.S. Rep Sheila Jackson Lee said Thursday she is seeking federal government intervention to halt the Texas Education Agency’s takeover of the Houston Independent School District. Jackson Lee said she has been in contact with the … Continue reading →

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Lege targets Harris County election administrator

Posted on February 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We knew something like this was coming. House and Senate bills filed by Republican lawmakers in response to Harris County’s mismanagement of its recent elections could give the Texas secretary of state the authority to step in, suspend county election … Continue reading →

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Katy ISD challenged over at large districts

Posted on January 4, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This was from before Christmas but I didn’t have a chance to write about it until now. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund sent a letter Tuesday to Katy ISD accusing the district of disenfranchising Black and Latino voters … Continue reading →

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Electoral Count Act included in must-pass budget bill

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not nearly enough to shore up voting rights, but it’s still vitally necessary and clearly the best we could do. After months of negotiations, it now appears to be official: The Electoral Count Reform Act has hitched a ride … Continue reading →

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The case for redrawing Constable/JP precincts

Posted on November 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A Twitter thread of interest: Harris County hasn’t redrawn its civil court boundaries since 1973, leading to lopsided caseloads. Here’s 1,000 new maps that would reduce lines at the courthouse, give judges more time in eviction & debt cases, and … Continue reading →

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Of course the redistricting lawsuit trial will be delayed

Posted on September 3, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

All we ever get is delays. The legal fight over the shape of Texas political representation for the next decade won’t be decided until next year after a federal panel agreed Tuesday to delay a trial over new political maps. … Continue reading →

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Most of the lawsuit against the voter suppression law survives a motion to dismiss

Posted on August 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news. In a limited order this week, a federal judge threw out some civil rights and discrimination claims brought as part of a complex and ongoing legal dispute over strict new voting rules in Texas. The lawsuit filed last year alleges that the … Continue reading →

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