LWVTX Blog

A judge in the Southern District Federal Court has ruled that Galveston County violated the Voting Rights Act when drawing districts for its commissioners court in 2021. The League of Women Voters was not a plaintiff in the lawsuit, but League members in Galveston attended the hearings closely watching the evidence. The 2021 county map eliminated the sole minority/majority commission district.

The district which allowed a coalition of African American and Latino voters to elect a commissioner of their choice had been drawn decades ago and the judge found that candidates elected from that district had done a good job of representing the interests of community members over the years. Since the elimination of the district, block voting by the Anglo community guaranteed that no minority candidate could be elected under this map. The defendants did not dispute the facts of the case arguing instead that the motivation for the map was partisan not racial. The Court disagreed and interestingly, noted the lack of transparency and public input into the redistricting process in 2021 which was a break from the usual practice of the commissioners court.

Along with the recent SCOTUS decision in Allen v Milligan, this outcome, it if holds up on appeal is acknowledgement that the Voting Rights Amendment (VRA) is still a critical tool in protecting minority access to the polls. It is bedrock principle of our democracy that everyone should have free and fair access to the polls and the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.

The League wants to congratulate everyone that was involved in this momentous court case. This win demonstrates how powerful our voices can be when we work together. Thank you to the NAACP Texas State Conference, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, LULAC Texas, Texas Civil Rights Project, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP for ensuring that communities of color in Galveston County will continue to have a voice on their commissioners court.