NEWYou can now listen to articles from a reputable news source!
The U.S. Department of Justice plans to take action against the type of “race-based gerrymandering” that is central to the Texas redistricting dispute, according to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon on Tuesday.
Dhillon, who heads the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, stated in a video posted on Tuesday commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, “We are ensuring that all 50 states have and continue to have clean voter rolls. We are challenging efforts to suppress or dilute the vote. We are combating illegal race-based gerrymandering. And we are safeguarding ballot access for all Americans.”
Following the departure of Democrats from the state in an effort to thwart Republicans’ redistricting efforts, Texas Governor Greg Abbott instructed the Texas Department of Public Safety to take action against them for neglecting their duties.
The ongoing dispute originated from a letter from the Department of Justice informing Texas officials that the current congressional maps in Texas promote racial vote dilution in violation of the Voting Rights Act. This letter prompted Abbott to convene a special legislative session to commence the redrawing of the state’s maps.
The Texas state flag flies alongside the logo from the U.S. Department of Justice. (Getty Images/DOJ)
“We have expressed serious concerns to Texas about congressional districts drawn with racial motivations, and we are taking legal action against other jurisdictions where there is evidence of ineligible voters on their voter rolls,” Dhillon reiterated on Wednesday. “Our goal is to make voting easier and cheating harder. On this anniversary, we honor the voting rights act not just by commemorating it but by upholding it for all Americans.”
Democrats have criticized Republicans for pushing a partisan process, but the Justice Department asserts that the move aims to establish fairer districts. The DOJ’s July letter indicates that four of Texas’s districts currently constitute “unconstitutional ’coalition districts.'” The letter also notes that courts have ruled that “coalition districts” violate the Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment.
Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, speaks at the 2023 Republican National Committee Winter Meeting in Dana Point, California, on January 27, 2023. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE LATEST NEWS
“We examined Texas and found that four of their districts are made up of these so-called coalition districts,” Dhillon explained during an interview on the “Just the News, No Noise” show aired by Real America’s Voice.
“In essence, to create a special minority district, you have to combine multiple minorities or rely on a certain percentage of crossover white votes. This is too convoluted, abnormal, and not in line with equal protection.”
