by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News August 6, 2024

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Aug. 1 that two different minority groups cannot coalesce to claim that a Texas political map stripped their voting power.

The court’s decision upends what conservative critics argued was the Democrat Party’s misuse of the Voting Rights Act to create voting districts favoring Democrats in Galveston, Texas.

The case, Petteway v. Galveston County, centered on the interpretation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting practices that discriminate based on race or color. The appeals court concluded that Section 2 does not support coalition claims. These claims involve districts where no single minority group forms a majority but, together, different minority groups comprise a voting majority.

Galveston County, with a population that is 58% white, 22.5% Hispanic, and 12.5% black, had previously drawn a coalition district combining black and Hispanic populations. This district was represented by a black Democrat until the 2021 redistricting, which eliminated the coalition district and prompted lawsuits from the NAACP and the Department of Justice, who argued that coalition districts are mandated under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

The appeals court emphasized that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act protects people based on a single class, either race or language minority, not combined minority groups. The court highlighted that Section 2’s language specifies protections for a “class” of citizens, not “classes,” underscoring that political alliances between different minority groups are not covered.

Appeals court Judge Edith Jones wrote that the 5th Circuit would not remain at the forefront of rubber stamping litigation, “not compelled by law or the Supreme Court, whose principal effects are to (a) supplant legislative redistricting by elected representatives with judicial fiat; (b) encourage divisively counting citizens by race and ethnicity; and (c) displace the fundamental principle of democratic rule by the majority with balkanized interests.”

Political analysts say the ruling could reshape political districts in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, states within the court’s jurisdiction, and give Republicans a boost to win more congressional seats in those states. In Texas alone, several House districts represented by Democrats could be affected.

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  Appeals court rules ‘coalition districts’ are not covered under Voting Rights Act, WorldTribune.com