Robert Weiner, the voting rights project director at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which represents the Texas NAACP in the ongoing lawsuit against Texas for racial gerrymandering, issued the following statement regarding the new redistricting law:
“This map is illegal. The architects of this racially discriminatory plan clearly targeted minority voters. The legislators bulldozed important majority minority districts. It eliminates opportunities of Black and Brown people to elect their preferred candidates in multiple Congressional districts.
“We are still in the midst of an ongoing lawsuit against the state of Texas because the existing maps dilute the votes of people of color. This new map increases discrimination. The legislators supercharged their efforts to undercut the voting strength of minority voters after the Department of Justice–misstating the law and abusing its power–told Texas to do that. This plan cannot stand.”
“As part of the ongoing case that we and others are challenging the 2021 maps, the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas in El Paso will hold a hearing on Wednesday, August 27th, to consider the schedule for litigation concerning Texas’s redistricting efforts.”
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Contact: Lacy Crawford, lcrawford@lawyerscommittee.org and press@lawyerscommittee.org
About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to mobilize the nation’s leading lawyers as agents for change in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the Lawyers’ Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial justice, fighting inside and outside the courts to ensure that Black people and other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the promises of our democracy real. The Lawyers’ Committee convenes the national, nonpartisan Election Protection Coalition, which administers the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline.
