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White House Strategizes On Voting Rights Act
President Barack Obama convened voting rights advocates to the White House on Monday. Along with Attorney General Eric Holder, the President doubled down on his commitment to salvaging the Voting Right Act.
Texas state representative Trey Martinez Fischer, a San Antonio Democrat, was the only Texan invited to the White House, but he said Texas was frequently discussed in the meeting with Obama and Holder.
“Just as the President is talking about discrimination at the polls here we are in Texas arguing this case in front of federal judges," Martinez Fischer said.
Last week Holder said the Justice Department would support a lawsuit asking a federal judge to require Texas to pre-clear all new election laws in the state. Holder’s plan is to use other, still-valid sections of the Voting Rights Act after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key part of this this summer.
“Section Two plus Section Three equal Section Five. You get to the same result, it’s a little bit longer to get there," Holder said.
Martinez Fischer is one of the plaintiffs in a voting rights lawsuit in San Antonio that challenges new election maps. A three-judge panel is considering whether it needs to draw new maps to make sure minorities are fairly represented.