Texas Begins Redistricting Process And Yes, It’s Racist

The Texas Tribune reports:

The Texas State Senate kicked off the decennial redistricting process on Saturday when it released the first draft of its own members’ district maps.

State Sen. Beverly Powell, D-Burleson, immediately called foul on the initial draft of the map, which was authored by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, who chairs the Senate Redistricting Committee. Powell’s district is currently contained in Tarrant County, which voted for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, but the new version of District 10 reaches into more conservative Parker and Johnson counties.

This is the first time in decades federal law allows Texas to draw and use political maps without first getting required federal approval to ensure that they’re not disenfranchising the voting rights of people of color. That federal pre-clearance requirement in the Voting Rights Act was gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013.

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Huffman last appeared on JMG when she authored a bill to create a new statewide court meant to thwart attempts by Democrats to file appeals of new laws.