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Voter ID Case Awaits Decision: On August 5, 2015 a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a federal trial court’s earlier finding that Texas’s strict photo ID law- implemented on the same day as the Shelby decision- has a racially discriminatory effect and violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The panel also ruled that the district court should hear more evidence on the intentional discrimination claim. If intentional discrimination is found, this could place Texas back under the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act. Texas has asked the full 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the case and allow the law to remain in place while the state requests Supreme Court review. The Texas State Conference of the NAACP and the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, who are represented by the Lawyers’ Committee, the Brennan Center for Justice, the NAACP, and other co-counsel, await a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision. The law remains in effect while the Fifth Circuit decides the case.
One Person/ One Vote Challenge: In late 2015, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Evenwel v Abbott challenging the use of total population as an apportionment base for redistricting, claiming it violates the “one person, one vote” principle of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The Lawyers’ Committee’s amicus brief asked the Supreme Court to reject the plaintiff’s claim and uphold the established precedent that recognizes total population as a constitutional apportionment metric. The amicus brief further asserts that changing this well-established standard before an election would cause massive disruptions in the state election systems and disrupt critical redistricting cases, including ones in Texas and Florida, before the 2016 election.
Between 2000 and 2010, the Latino voting age population grew by about 43%.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau. 2010 Redistricting Data Summary File PL 94-171: Tables P1-P4
