Texas Democratic lawmakers again urge Senate to act on federal voting legislation
After Senate Republicans blocked a federal voting bill last week, Texas Democratic lawmakers are now calling on the U.S. Senate to pass a different one that could come up for a vote as soon as this week.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would essentially restore the preclearance provision taken out of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in 2013. It ensures states with a history of discrimination get federal approval for new election laws and redistricting maps.
State Rep. Nicole Collier, who chairs the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, said that’s sorely needed in Texas, where Republican-drawn political maps for congressional, statehouse, and state Board of Education districts just got approved by Gov. Greg Abbott Monday.
She added that’s despite the 2020 census’ findings, showing 95% of voters of color drove the state’s population growth over the last decade.
“Now I’m no mathematician but a state that experiences 95% of its growth from Blacks, Hispanics, and Asian Americans, seems to me that they would see an increase in representation, but we didn’t see that. We saw a decrease,” said the Fort Worth Democrat during a news conference Tuesday. “In fact the Anglos, who had the slowest growth, had the highest number of seats added.”
Read more: https://www.kut.org/politics/2021-10-27/texas-democratic-lawmakers-again-urge-senate-to-act-on-federal-voting-legislation
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