Austin, TX, a case example of legal disenfranchisement

[Trotskilicious]

so i just found out that the 25th district in texas is being fought over by Wes Riddle, whereas the former rep, Lloyd Dogget, who voted against the Iraq war and generally pushes a progressive agenda has now been pushed entirely out of travis county.

this is the 2011 map that was struck down via the voter rights act.



currently awaiting a verdict from the SCOTUS

however, as a cautionary tale, the following was approved for the 2006 midterms after the 2001 redistricting was also struck down.



that is a map of congressional districts 2006-2011. the center of the map, where "the pinwheel" has it's locus is central urban austin. i live on the right side of the map, in the yellow. actually maybe it's pink. that's the point, it's awful.

this effectively dismantles the voting blocs of minorities in east and south austin from voting with liberal whites throughout the city, and completely disenfranchises the overall liberal attitude of the city in general. in fact because of demographic shifts, much of predominantly black east austin is now mixed with spoiled and apolitical white youth (also known as HIPSTERS) and many of the former black residents have moved north, into the 10th district.

doggett won the yellow part there in 2006, as he had won the "fajita strip" district in 2004. however, the current redistricting (map #1), while struck down, is still in effect for the 2012 elections and won't be changed until the next cycle.

and you wonder why i'm jaded. this happened despite the fact that i voted for democrats in the state house in 2000 and in 2010 when i went to the polls to vote for obama, and lloyd doggett. now i can't even vote for doggett, the only person i have ever voted for that actually won, because they effectively disenfranchised me. and everyone just goes IT'S UR FAWLT VOTIN MATERZ AMERIKA YAY

EDIT: corrections made via eulogy

[Trotskilicious]

i'm pretty sure travis county has carried a democratic president pretty much every year since ever. i know for a fact it was clinton x2, gore, kerry, obama. considering texas, like much of the south, used to be solid democrat we're stretching back to reconstruction when the republican party deliberately prevented democrats from voting in the south, but i'm not sure when "Travis County" became a political entity.

if you read about fajita strip districts, and recall democrat state reps fleeing to oklahoma to prevent a vote, and the ensuing fallout of that, it's a good example of how the republican party has been waging war on travis county every census cycle for at least 20 years

and they finally won

and there wasn't a damn thing anyone could do

[Trotskilicious]

i mean other than make this shit stop but golly this is part of the process guys it wouldn't be sensible to rail against it lol

[MyOneAndOnly]

you're surprised by this?

where in Texas have you been for the last 20 years?

[MyOneAndOnly]

it's surprising they weren't able to gerrymander the district a long time ago.

[Eulogy]

isn't this part of texas subject to section 5 of the voting rights act?

edit: yeah, all of texas is. are you sure this has been cleared by the justice department / DC district court?

this seems to have been a different part of redistricting but i can't imagine the one you're talking about would turn out any differently:

HOUSTON — A federal court in Washington ruled on Tuesday that political maps drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature in Texas discriminated against minority voters, a decision that black and Hispanic groups claimed as a victory and the state attorney general vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The three-judge panel of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit found that a set of maps for Congressional, State House and State Senate districts drawn by the Legislature failed to comply with part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. They denied granting so-called preclearance to the maps, because in some cases districts drawn to look like Hispanic ones on paper would actually perform to the benefit of candidates preferred by white voters.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/29/us...iminatory.html

the voting rights act is truly a wonderful thing (also it's something that conservative justices have been trying to chip away at... just sayin').

[Trotskilicious]

eulogy they're running for these seats right now, yes it's approved.

[Trotskilicious]

Originally Posted by scottytheoneand

you're surprised by this?

no, you fucking dipshit

most of you either think it's not happening or you're okay with it because "lol it's texas lol"

god damn you fucking suck you're such an idiot

[Eulogy]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

eulogy they're running for these seats right now, yes it's approved.

when did this happen?

[Trotskilicious]

like where the fuck do you even get off writing off basic structural corruption and disenfranchisement as "i'm surprised they didn't do it earlier" as if democratic states aren't doing this to republican voters

[Eulogy]

In July 2011, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed into law a redistricting plan ("C185"), approved by the Texas legislature in June, which would give the 25th district a completely different geography for the 2012 elections, including part of Travis county, and stretching north as far as southern Tarrant County near Fort Worth. The proposed redistricting would split Travis County into five districts, and make it unrealistic for Doggett to be re-elected in any of them except the new 35th district (which by weight of population would be more of a San Antonio district than an Austin district). There is a currently pending consolidated lawsuit against the proposed redistricting.[1][2]

so no it has not been approved.

[Trotskilicious]

Originally Posted by Eulogy

when did this happen?

when they redrew the district maps in 2011.

if you do some research you'll find that they tried to make the districts even more egregiously ridiculous in 2000 and were prevented from doing so and the justice dept. intervened

this time they didn't, because the 25th didn't go from east austin to mcallen so it was okay

[Eulogy]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

when they redrew the district maps in 2011.

if you do some research you'll find that they tried to make the districts even more egregiously ridiculous in 2000 and were prevented from doing so and the justice dept. intervened

this time they didn't, because the 25th didn't go from east austin to mcallen so it was okay

see my last post. the lawsuit is still pending. it likely won't stand.

i don't know what that means for this november though.

[Trotskilicious]

Originally Posted by Eulogy

so no it has not been approved.

you know what eulogy you're right it's all gonna be okay.

[Trotskilicious]

Originally Posted by Eulogy

see my last post. the lawsuit is still pending. it likely won't stand.

i really wish i could share your optimism, but it doesn't seem like mr. doggett, or anyone else, is betting on that.

[Eulogy]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

you know what eulogy you're right it's all gonna be okay.

i'm trying to tell you how the mechanisms in place because of the VRA will likely make this redistricting illegal.

not sure why you want to fight me on it.

[Eulogy]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

i really wish i could share your optimism, but it doesn't seem like mr. doggett, or anyone else, is betting on that.

they already struck down the redistricting of the 23rd. many redistricting plans are struck down. this is not a crazy idea. it's entirely realistic.

[Eulogy]

but again, i don't know what that means for november.

[Eulogy]

Looking forward, unless Texas is successful in appealing the D.C. court's decision, the state will be forced to once again redraw their election maps prior to the 2014 midterm elections. The court noted that it is the fourth time in as many decennial redistricting cycles that Texas has been taken to court over their new maps -- and they have lost in court each time.

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal...-throws-ou.php

[Trotskilicious]

i'd like to point out that the weird three pronged vortex on the map as drawn has been in effect since 2000, they've just made amends to make sure doggett is pushed out based on getting more seats. so i'm not sure why you're arguing that this is "fair" or "part of the process" because it's pretty obvious that these districts are engineered to produce republicans.

[Eulogy]

The intervenors in the lawsuit argued that Texas's new Hispanic ability seats, the 34th and 35th Districts, were counteracted by the loss of three ability districts: the 23rd, 25th, and 27th seats. The court agreed unanimously in the case of the 23rd and 27th Districts and split on the 25th.

This year's elections are proceeding under different, interim maps developed by a separate federal court in San Antonio. Those interim maps are not directly affected by the decision, though Texas redistricting expert Michael Li says the San Antonio court could use the D.C. ruling as an impetus to adjust the interim maps between now and Election Day, which is just 10 weeks away.

not sure your info is up-to-date

[Trotskilicious]

and why do we need this anyway, why is redistricting a partisan event at the statehouse?

[Trotskilicious]

Originally Posted by Eulogy

not sure your info is up-to-date

that i know that lamar smith has represented westlake, west austin, olmos park san antonio and alamo heights san antonio since 2000?

[Eulogy]

i know you're going to get pissed off at me for saying this

but this is a perfect example of why we need democratic presidents to elect scotus justices. without section 5 of the voting rights act, they could do whatever the hell they wanted.

[Trotskilicious]

well congrats eulogy you just defended corruption

well done, you win. everything's fair, isn't it? the court will fix it.

[Eulogy]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

that i know that lamar smith has represented westlake, west austin, olmos park san antonio and alamo heights san antonio since 2000?

no, that you had no idea about the decision the DC court made

[Eulogy]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

well congrats eulogy you just defended corruption

in what way?

by telling you that the corrupt redistricting plan was struck down?

what the fuck are you talking about?

[Trotskilicious]

nothing to see here guys keep moving.

[Trotskilicious]

Originally Posted by Eulogy

no, that you had no idea about the decision the DC court made

i didn't

[Trotskilicious]

again, why is redistricting a partisan event at the statehouse?