Thousands of El Pasoans Votes Being Determined In U.S. Supreme Court
The future of thousands of El Paso voters could be affected by a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Justices debated the future of Texas? congressional district boundaries on Monday. They heard the case at the state of Texas? request because they?re objecting over an alternate plan that was drew up by federal judges from San Antonio.
Districts had to be redrawn after the state was awarded four additional districts after the 2010 U.S. Census revealed that population in Texas had ballooned by four million people.
The legislature drew new boundaries, but a lawsuit allowed federal judges in San Antonio to redraw the maps. The back-and-forth reaction, along with the delay of the federal government approving the original plans, has already delayed primary elections.
All plans for changes in voting must be approved by the federal government. It?s a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Texas is one of all, or part of, 16 states that are required to approve changes to deter racial discrimination at polling places.
On Monday a consensus wasn?t reached by Supreme Court Justices.
Samuel Alito questioned whether pushing the elections back would rectify the problem.
?Why can?t this all be pushed back,? questioned Alito. ?Wouldn?t that eliminate a lot of the problems we are grappling with this case??
Primaries in Texas have already been pushed back from March to early April. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican who was in attendance for the hearing on Monday, said if the court could rule by February 1, it would allow the primaries to take place as scheduled on April 3. He also seemed upset with the federal judges in San Antonio.
?The judges disregarded the will and sovereign power of the state of Texas,? said Abbot.
Meanwhile, thousands of people in El Paso are waiting to see how the decision affects them. If the court drafted by a federal plan were to go through, 59-thousand El Pasoans would be represented by a legislator from District 23.
Those who live in Northeast El Paso, like Carole Bauer, didn?t seem happy by the idea.
?I don?t think it?s a good idea because I don?t think San Antonio knows what our needs are,? said Bauer.
