Texas House Republicans passed a gerrymandered legislative map that only benefits themselves and their political allies. The map was drawn by self-serving politicians to hold onto power while taking away fair and equal representation from Texas voters. The map also decreases the amount of majority-minority districts, despite the fact that 95% of the population growth in Texas over the last decade was from communities of color.
“Self-serving politicians in the Texas House have passed a map that denies Texans their right to fair and equal representation. They’ve rigged the process with a cynical and un-democratic tactic that undermines the voice and vote of all Texans,” said End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund President Tiffany Muller. “The U.S. Senate must quickly pass the Freedom to Vote Act to end partisan gerrymandering in Texas and across the country, ensuring that the people are the ones choosing their representatives, not the other way around.”
The Freedom to Vote Act is a once-in-a-generation voting rights and anti-corruption bill introduced in the U.S. Senate last month that would end the practice of partisan gerrymandering. The bill would input national standards for redistricting by outlawing maps that are gerrymandered in a partisan way; strengthen protections for communities of color by allowing easier access for minority voters to challenge maps that dilute the power of their voices and votes in court; increase transparency and accessibility in the map-drawing process by requiring states to quickly update the public on map-drawing procedures; and allow for an expedited and fair court process for lawsuits challenging a map deemed as a partisan gerrymander.
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