Texas Republicans Are Attacking Your Voting Rights, But Texas Democrats Are Fighting To Protect Them

AUSTIN, Texas – Sixty years ago today, a Texas Democrat signed into law one of the most impactful pieces of legislation: the Voting Rights Act of 1965. President Lyndon B. Johnson's signature protected the voting rights of minorities by eliminating discriminatory poll taxes and literacy tests, federally safeguarding majority-minority districts, and ensuring each citizen had the right to vote. Texas has repeatedly violated the Voting Rights Act through racially gerrymandered districts and other voter suppression tactics. Now, Texas Republicans are continuing this racist tradition in their latest attempt to benefit Donald Trump.

"Instead of celebrating the Voting Rights Act today, Texas Democrats have been out of the state to prevent Texas Republicans from further weakening the VRA on behalf of Donald Trump," said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder. “At Donald Trump’s behest, Greg Abbott prioritized redistricting to create five new seats to protect Trump’s disastrous agenda over flood response. This new map drew districts that spanned hundreds of miles and combined different communities, and diluted minority votes in a state that is 60% minority. Today, like 60 years ago, is an ongoing struggle to secure voting rights and the right to representation for all. Texas Democrats are fighting to protect this right, while Texas Republicans are actively seeking to dismantle it.”

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