The Justice Department moved yesterday to block Texas from enforcing its new Voter ID law because it disproportionately affects minorities. The Department’s move is authorized by the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits such laws in states, like Texas, that have a history of suppressing minority voting.
I have previously blogged about the effect of the Voting Rights Act on gerrymandering:
- Thus, Republicans are much more ham-strung when it comes to gerrymandering than are Democrats. Republicans can gerrymander to their heart’s content, but only if it doesn’t adversely affect minorities, who happen to be the base of the Democratic Party. That doesn’t seem fair, and I can’t imagine why the Republican Party in 2006 under George W. Bush voted in favor of a 25-year extension of Section 5. What were they thinking?
This latest Justice Department action reveals again the significance of the 25-year extension.
