The united states government is made up of the federal and the state level of governments. The federal government is made up of three branches the executive, legislature and the judiciary the legislature is further divided into the senate and the house of representatives both of which must be elected by voting. The states also hold elections to elect governors and the state legislature. In Texas same as the united states representatives and senators are elected in a single winner contest through a plurality vote. Candidates are required to be American citizens and to be residents in Texas. To vote in Texas one is required to be an American citizen, a resident, to be of sound mind and to be a resident of Texas. One should also not be convicted of a felony or if convicted must show that that they have discharged of their sentence. To be elected one must receive more votes than any other candidates on the same category (Scott, n.d.)
The united states government through the civil rights act and the voting rights act of 1965 protects the rights to vote for Americans and protects them against discrimination. The recent Texas voting law that prohibit 24 hr. voting which may mean that some shift workers might not have time to vote. The voting laws also disenfranchises disabled and elderly voter and voters who do not speak English fluently (Pollock, 2021)
Becouse people are looking for lower cost of living there has been a lot of demographic changes in the United States especially in the southern states. In recent times a lot of people have been moving to Texas because of its cheaper homes, work opportunities, education, weather and generally lower cost of living. The decennial census is important especially when redistricting because it provides a true picture of the population of a state. When redistricting the decennial census should be used especially if we are to enact the one man one vote one value principle. “State and federal officials represent districts that are intended to reflect equalized populations” (Graves, 2020). In my opinion re mapping and redistricting should be a reserve power of the state but as seen in the case of Texas political gerrymandering to protect incumbent and favor political parties is alive and well. Therefore, redistricting before the decennial census is against the constitution when its sole purpose is to gain political advantage because it goes against the one man one vote principle (Blum, 2006)
The Texas re-districting was not illegal because the power to redistrict is a preserve of the state, as seen in the 2004 case Veith vs. Jubelirer, where justice Scalia, Rehnquist, Thomas and Day O’Connor argued that Gerrymandering claims should not be decided by courts as judges cannot identify standards for adjudicating such claims (Blum, 2006).
The Texas re-districting violated the voting rights act by using out of date census in order to favor republicans, because there were so many new residents especially Latinos who moved to Texas after the 2000 census, by reducing the number of districts where voters of color make up the majority the redistricting violated the voting rights act that prohibits racial discrimination in voting (Ross, 2021)
References
Blum, E. (2006, February, 24). Don’t mess with Texas districts. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-feb-24-oe-blum24-story.html
Graves, P. (2020, January). Redistricting 101 how census data affect elections. https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/2020/jan/redistricting.php
Pollock, C. (2021, November 4). Justice department sues Texas over voting law. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/11/04/texas-voting-law-justice-department-lawsuit/
Ross, J. (2021, October 22). In lawsuit against Texas redistricting maps, plaintiffs see history repeating. https://time.com/6109213/texas-redistricting-lawsuit-history/
Scott, J,b. (n.d.). Texas voting. https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/pamphlets/largepamp.shtml
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