Chris Turner:
Yes, I think, you are absolutely right that our governor is reacting to his 2022 primary election, where he already has two opponents in the Republican primary.
And he is just simply in a race to the bottom with not only his primary opponents, but I think other Republican leaders around the country, in trying to appeal to and placate Donald Trump and the Donald Trump base, which essentially now is the Republican Party. And so that’s a real factor that we have to contend with, because Republicans control all levers of government in Texas presently.
But I think that, with respect to the court decision, while that was obviously not a decision anyone of us wanted to see, it is very important for Republicans to remember Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act remains in tact. The court decision did not in any way nullify Section 2, like they did with Section 5 several years ago.
And so we still have a Constitution in this country. We still have Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. And Republicans in Texas shamefully have a track record of passing laws that have been found by federal courts to be intentionally discriminatory against African American and Hispanic voters in Texas under both the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution, whether that’s redistricting plans over the last decade, or photo voter I.D. law.
Greg Abbott’s secretary of state two years ago attempted a voter purge that the federal courts had to stop. So, there is a track record in Texas of Republicans violating the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution. There is a track record of courts continually defending and pushing back on those Republican attempts. So, they ought to be cautious about what they try to do.
