GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas — The U.S. Supreme Court will allow Galveston County to use a redrawn districting map that a federal judge previously said denied Blacks and Latinos equal voting rights, therefore violating the Voting Rights Act.
The map for Commissioners Court Precinct 3, represented by Stephen Holmes since 1999, initially had 61% Black and Latino voters but was reduced to 31% during the 2021 redistricting process.
A benchmark plan submitted in court documents shows what would’ve kept Precinct 3 a majority Black and Latino district, but the county commissioners adopted a different plan that “dismantled” the voting bloc, according to attorneys with the Texas Civil Rights Project.
The Texas Civil Rights Project called the map discriminatory.
Galveston County Judge Mark Henry said the county followed redistricting laws and did not engage in any racial discrimination.
Critics said that what Republican officials are attempting in Galveston could be replicated across the country in violation of the Voting Rights Act, CNN reported.