Congressional, Legislative Maps Not Pre-Cleared 
Yesterday, a federal court in Washington D.C. declined to grant the state’s summary judgment motion to pre-clear Texas’ Congressional, State House, and State Senate maps. As intervenors in the case, State Senator Wendy Davis and I, along with other interested groups, have argued that the state’s maps should not be pre-cleared because they dilute minority voting strength in Texas. In yesterday’s order, the court ruled that “the State of Texas used an improper standard or methodology to determine which districts afford minority voters the ability to elect their preferred candidates of choice.”  As a result, the issue of pre-clearance will likely proceed to a full trial.

San Antonio Court will Draw Interim Maps for 2012 Elections
Because Texas’ maps have not been pre-cleared, and will not be pre-cleared in time for the 2012 elections, they cannot go into effect. Instead, a San Antonio federal court will draw interim maps for Congressional, Texas House and Texas Senate districts. Those maps must be completed before the end of November. Senator Davis and I are plaintiffs in the suit before the San Antonio court, and will argue that the interim maps must provide greater opportunity for African-American and Hispanic voters to elect the candidates of their choice.

 Republicans Wasting Taxpayers’ Time and Money with Partisan Power Grab

Maps are Clearly Discriminatory
The maps passed by Texas Republicans have one clear purpose: to maximize the number of Republican seats. To achieve this goal, Republicans split communities of interest, drew maps with crazy district lines,  and disregarded the preferences of most Texans. They also illegally split and packed African-American and Hispanic communities, ignoring the fact that these two groups accounted for almost 90% of the growth in Texas’ population over the last 10 years. The effect is to deny African-Americans and Hispanics the opportunity to elect the candidate of their choice, a violation of the Voting Rights Act. I am confident that these maps will not stand.

Republican Leadership Wasting Time and Money
Republicans could have used the 82nd Legislative session to draw a fair map. Instead, the drew a map that must now be litigated in federal court, creating uncertainty for candidates and voters. Republicans also chose to seek pre-clearance from the D.C. federal court, rather than the Department of Justice, even though the DOJ is the much faster and less expensive option. As a result, significant taxpayer dollars have already been spent to defend these illegal maps, and the process is still ongoing. Republicans had hoped that these illegal maps would gain approval more easily from appointed judges, but that cynical strategy backfired yesterday when the D.C. court declined to grant the maps pre-clearance.

When: Friday, November 11th, at 8:30 a.m.

Where: American Legion Hall, Post 838, 1250 Mansfield Avenue

Each year, I host a breakfast at American Legion Hall, E.L. Young  Post 838 in honor of veterans in State House District 95.  This year, our keynote speaker will be Tyler Alberts, founder of the Fort Worth Military Museum. Tyler will share information on the unique experiences of our country’s African-Americans serving in the military and also tell us more about his museum, which focuses on America’s 20th century conflicts.

I invite all veterans in House District 95 to join us on Friday, November 11th. However, seating is limited, so please reserve your spot by calling my district office at (817) 339-1430 or by emailing Anne Hagan at anne.hagan@house.state.tx.us.  Special thanks to Lockheed Martin for sponsoring the breakfast again this year.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Marc Veasey

believes D.C. Court will overturn all Texas maps

FORT WORTH — State Representative Marc Veasey (D-Fort Worth) was pleased to learn
today that the Department of Justice has declined to clear Texas’s Congressional and Texas
House maps. Whether the Texas Senate map violates Section 5 will ultimately be decided by the
courts, but DOJ allowed the map to be sent on to the courts without its objection.

“These maps were clearly discriminatory and retrogressive for the Fort Worth and North
Texas minority communities. Today’s decision by the Department of Justice is a first step
towards correcting the injustices perpetrated by the Republican majorities in the Texas
Legislature when drawing these maps. I believe that there was sufficient evidence for
the DOJ to find that all three maps violated Section 5, but I am confident that when this
process moves to federal court, the Senate map, as well as the other maps, will ultimately
be found to have violated Section 5,” said Rep. Veasey.

Last month, Rep. Veasey and State Senator Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth) successfully
intervened in the state’s attempt to pre-clear Texas’s redistricting maps in federal court. With this
decision, the Department of Justice has confirmed that it will not accept the state’s contention
that the maps adhere to Section 5. Rep. Veasey, Sen. Davis, and minority groups such as
the NAACP and MALDEF, will continue to oppose the maps passed by Texas’s Republican
leadership. Rep. Veasey, Sen. Davis, and other intervenors have argued that the maps are
retrogressive for Texas’s minority communities.

“This is just the first step. Although it is a positive sign, and I am pleased that our efforts
been rewarded, we will continue to fight to make sure that Texas’s African-American and
Hispanic communities have a fair opportunity to elect the candidates of their choice,” Rep.
Veasey said.

State Representative Marc Veasey is serving his fourth term in the Texas House. He is a member
of the Elections; Pensions, Investments and Financial Services; and Redistricting Committees.
Residents of District 95 are encouraged to contact Rep. Veasey at (817) 339-1430.

I am honored to represent you in the Texas Legislature and committed to continue to working
hard every day for sensible solutions that will benefit all Texans. I look forward to hearing from
you.