(Image Source: Talking Points Memo)
BY ALYSSA CARTEE
ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY
The Supreme Court is messing with Texas ... but not exactly by choice. A political blogger for CNN explains the heavy implications of the court’s decision.
“The political stakes are huge: Texas gains four new congressional seats … an expected high court ruling in coming weeks could help determine whether Democrats can wrest control of the House of Representatives from the Republicans. The legal stakes are just as important - creating standards courts must use when evaluating voting boundaries.”
The Supreme Court is looking at two plans in the hearing. One was drawn by the Republican-controlled state legislature. But minority groups argued the district did not reflect Texas’ growing Latino population and therefore violated the Voting Rights Act. So it called on a Federal Court in San Antonio to draw another plan.
Until the new districts are settled in court, campaigning can’t start. Candidates can’t register. KDFW in Dallas spoke with a Dallas County Republican party official.
DALLAS COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY OFFICIAL: “This is the worst nightmare you can imagine. We have elections that are pending, including the presidential elections, and we don't even know what our precincts are.”
KSAT in San Antonio spoke with a political leader on each side of the issue -- Texas’ attorney general, who will represent the state, and the head of one of the minority groups who is pushing for a change to the district map. Both are expecting a lot from the Court.
TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: “They're using the tool of the voting rights act to undermine the new and historic and growing connection between the Hispanic community and the Republican Party.”
TEXAS LATINO REDISTRICTING TASK FORCE: “We are hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court finds that Texas does not have a right to treat the political community like a political piñata.”
However, an analyst for law.com says the court seems to be dodging the big picture.
“...the justices seemed uninterested in the broader question of whether it is constitutional for Congress to force jurisdictions, mostly in the South, to get federal approval for its district maps.”
Several media outlets have reported the Justices don’t like either of the options currently on the table. But in order to prevent further delay in the state’s primary elections, a decision needs to be made by the end of the month. Miller-McCune says there is only one direction this case should go.
“...the Supreme Court needs to issue a rule in keeping with Section 5’s [of Voting Rights Act] design, and then get out of the way. On the double.”
That would mean -- avoiding the messy arguments the Supreme Court seems unwilling to delve into. Texas’ primary elections have already been pushed back from March to April.
