act test

act test What’s really glaring is the over-the-top partisanship,” says Mustafa Tameez, a Houston-based Democratic political consultant who specializes in redistricting issues. “What the Republicans are clearly saying is, ‘we want more Republicans at any cost.’ The Democratic position is the (Voting Rights Act) law matters.” Veteran redistricting-watchers say the bold partisanship of the Texas congressional map opens the door to the strongest Voting Rights Act challenge to date. The law was enacted in the 1960s to protect minorities in nine Southern states with legacies of discrimination against minorities. Voting Rights Act critics say the law results in reverse discrimination against non-Hispanic whites and punishes the great-grandchildren of white segregationists for the sins of their ancestors.


The Voting Rights Act has turned into a racial gerrymandering tool used (by both parties) for partisan advantage,” said Edward Blum, director of the Project on Fair Representation and author of a book critical of the law. “It has completely outlived its usefulness and creates more mischief than good.” The Texas case is destined to join two cases currently working their way to the U.S. Supreme Court — one from Shelby County, Ala., and one from North Carolina — that broadly challenge the requirement that 12,000 jurisdictions in the targeted states receive U.S. Justice Department “pre-clearance” before any changes in district lines become law. The act allows state and local governments to ask courts for a “bailout” — or exemption from the pre-clearance requirement — if they have a 10-year record free of discrimination.

act test