Public Policy Writing Assignment The Voting Rights Act and Texas: An Ongoing Battle

Question 1.) Introduction: What is Gerrymandering and what is the history of gerrymandering in Texas? What other types of practices have been used to disenfranchise voters in Texas prior to the VRA of 1965?

All nations have different political spheres that influence the way people of a given country governed. The various political spheres are controlled by the citizens thus the different laws that govern the voting process directly influences who wins. Below is a discussion of the political arena in Texas.

The word Gerrymandering was used first in 1812. This name was as a result of the bill that the governor signed to discriminate people in different regions of the country politically. This would enable different people to vote while unfairly discriminating some of the people who lived in different parts of the country by excluding their civil rights. This term was spread using the media. According to Ingraham (Pg. 1), it was a print out of a cartoon that enabled the powerful political leaders to retain their power by favoring their political parties and supporters in different regions of the area. The suffix used in the word changed according to the leader who used different discriminative tactics to get power.

Other different terminologies were used to define the various methods used to politically favor various regions by deciding the boundaries of the different constituencies so that to mobilize voters. The other popular terms include jerrymandering and henry-mandering. The terms used the same tactics employed by Gerrymandering to alter the political structure of the nation. These terms were used to change the demographics of the voters as well.

Question 2.) What did Latinos and other minority groups allege that Texas did to violate the Voting Rights Act/14 Amendment, etc. in the Perry and Shelby cases? Summarize both cases and what they were asking the court to do?

Rucke(Pg 1) shows that the discrimination of voters by altering political boundaries affected the voters thus the individual voters went to court and sued the state of Texas for allowing discrimination of political boundaries which was infringing their right to votes as citizens of Texas. The different individual's filled two cases. The first case was by Perry led to a ruling that made the Texas government be accountable to the people and redefine the boundaries so that the minority groups could freely exercise their voting rights. The case that involved the individual voters using judiciary rights to enable them vote fairly left the minority group at a better position since they could vote freely without discrimination as shown by Malewitz(Pg 1). The second case was centered on the voting right law. This law was signed by a governor who discriminated against the minorities; thus it was not an objective law. Again, the individual voters went to court and sued the Texas State so that the law would be amended and enable free and fair voting for the minorities as shown by Cohen(Pg 1).

Question 3. How do these redistricting and voter ID laws cases weaken voting rights in the state of Texas?

As mentioned above the two cases were presented in court by voters so that they would engage in their civil rights fairly just like the majority groups. The two cases showed how their rights to vote were weakened through discrimination. The first case that was against the unfair political boundaries impaired their ability to vote because the constituencies that were favored had more voting polls than those in the discriminated areas. This is evident as the voters were many but they would not vote sine the political boundaries left them out thus the political leaders would easily retain their power as revealed by Attanasio, Goldstein, and Redlich(Pg 30). This made it unfair since the opinion of the citizens was not adequately represented considering the discriminative laws. The Voters ID Law discriminated against the minority sine they use to suffer difficulties while applying and getting their identification card. Using this law, the people could not be eligible to vote thus weakening their ability to vote as citizens. However, this was not the case for the majority who accessed their IDs with ease and made them vote freely. Thereby, the two cases made it difficult for the minorities to represent their opinions fairly and openly like their majority counterparts who had ease and the laws that were established by the Texas State favored them.

Question 4.) Did the state of Texas have a compelling argument in Perry?

Perry having represented the minorities in court using skill had a compelling argument with the state which was a better place to begin the revolution. Even if the case was not ruled in his favor, we could see later that the case was a foundation to some of the recent cases that were established later and were successful. Therefore, the argument of Perry was compelling and sound even at the time that change was not taken lightly.

Question 5.) What were the conclusions of each case and what does it mean for voting rights of people in the state of Texas?

The outcome of each case served as the foundation of the cases in the future that earned the complete victory. The first case that was centered on the biases that were used while setting political boundaries the court ruled in favor of the minority. This served as a stepping stone to other cases since the court was objective and gave fair and transparent ruling using the evidence represented by the plaintiff. This enabled the boundaries to be settled in a decent way that did not discriminate on the minority. Consequently, this influenced the voting process since there was a fair representation of the political leaders and the minorities could vote people who had their interest at heart as examined by Grossman (Pg 2). This shows that the court even then enabled the freedom of voting in the right people to power.

In the case that centered around the right of voting law, the plaintiff did not have a complete victory since the case advanced into discrimination in the polling station. However, accessing the identification card in the foreign nation was hard since the power of the court was unlimited as the process of acquiring identification cards was not an easy one. Thus, the court made it easy for the minority to vote without the card but regulated the voting using other methods that enabled the minority to be represented with at least a lower impact of biases. This, as a result, influenced the manner in which the minority voted as they were in a position to exercise their political rights using the power of their votes.

Question 6.) Conclusion: Why does the state of Texas have some of the strictest voter ID Laws? What can the federal government do to ensure that all citizens voting rights are protected nationally? Research how many states have tried to change or weaken the Voting Rights Act of 1965. What do you think the intent is in changing the voting ID laws around the country? Is this a partisan led effort?

The state of Texas has some of the strictest laws since the country is set that foreigners cannot gain citizenship with ease. This is common in most nations as a method of shielding their citizens from exploitation. Thus, it is not an issue with one government alone. However, the manner in which the federal government treats the foreigners trickles down to the different states. The Texas State has some of the strictest voter Id laws since it happens to inhabit most of the American foreigners. The state shields the citizens just like the federal government applies the different laws on the citizens.

As shown above, the federal government can shield the different voters by protecting them against the different discrimination that happens by default. The federal government can directly influence the voting laws of their citizens using different approaches. This can be achieved by firstly, developing laws that favor easy and fast voting process for the citizens nationally. This can be facilitated by using similar laws for both citizens and non-citizens for both the nationalities and foreigners. Also, ensuring that the immigrants can register easily as voters can be a method of shielding all citizens as advised by Bassetti (Pg. 60). It would enhance their participation in elections and feel that their democratic right is not infringed upon. Different but few state have come up with methods of weakening or changing the Voting I laws in the country. As the country becomes more liberal the different state leaders have used their power to change the manner of the voting ID law as it is discriminative to the minority group. There are roughly ten states that are weakening this law so that to facilitate inclusive development. The changing of the ID law in the different states will reduce tension between the various groups which will promote the harmony of the state. As a result, people will work towards the development of the state and people will be in a position to invest widely in the state. This in return, will automatically enable the development of the different state which makes the state stand a better chance of attracting investors. Thereby, the people will be developed, and the state will be developed as well. However, the different leadership in different states is motivated by the different reasons to influence the voter ID law. However, the reasons are dependent on the interest and priorities of the leaders in the different states. In conclusion, the priorities of the person who is ruling a given state is that enables the laws to be influenced or not. The different factors affecting this decision is biased thus it is one-sided though with a uniting factor of ensuring there is a common good for the two groups. Such that, the people are in a position to benefit from if the law is weakened as well as the leaders who are making it weaker are benefitting from the same.

Question 7.) Do you believe that these type of Voter ID laws weakened the voting strength of minorities, the elderly and poor in the 2016 presidential election?

The 2016 election was historic in the United States. Thus, the different factors that influenced the voting process matter. The voter ID law in various states influenced the voting process in 2016. The laws have been weakening the voting process, and they have not been changed. Thus, it goes without saying that the voter ID laws affected the 2016 election. These voter ID laws weaken the minorities strength to vote since it is limiting. Thus, probably if the Voter ID laws were abolished then perhaps it would not influence the 2016 election.

Question 8.) What is your opinion on voting rights and the future of the franchise? What is the difference between voter fraud and voter suppression?

Voting rights enable people to put in power the right leaders. However, if the right to vote for any individual is limited then they cannot vote into power the people they think will promote the things that interest them. Thereby, the voting rights of a person should not be limited since it does not facilitate them to put their leaders of choice into power. Therefore, there should be a consideration for foreigners who have citizenship to vote freely. This will enable them to feel like they are part of the country and will be influenced to work towards the development of the nation in general. Hence, I believe that the voter ID laws are not fair and should be reviewed in different states so that the voting process is all inclusive.

Voter Fraud is when there is cheating of anything revolving around the voter. That is voter information which is their age, names and general demographics. Voter suppression is the event when the voter is suppressed. Thus, the voting process negatively influences the...