So Fort Worth, just like every other city in America this year, went through re-districting. Because of the (almost certainly) Unconstitutional Voting Rights Act, Forth Worth (being in Texas) has to submit their redistricting plan to the Department of Justice, who will promptly throw it out and implement their own anyway.
In an 8-1 vote on Tuesday, July 24, the Forth Worth city council voted to approve a map which was opposed by the United Hispanic Council. Their argument is that, despite the fact Fort Worth is now a Majority Minority city (or very close to it), that it "illegally dilutes Hispanic Voting Power."
Councilman Sal Espino seems to agree with UHC saying, "It's not just voting percentages. You have to look at voting performance."
Wait. What?
Yes. The United Hispanic Council basically argues thusly: District 9, even though Hispanics make up 57% of the vote in the district, supposedly dilutes the Hispanic vote because Hispanics don't vote in large numbers.
That is, even though the district in question is majority Hispanic, it is not *enough* majority Hispanic to overcome Hispanic voter apathy. You'll excuse me if I'm not impressed. When your demographic makes up 57% of the registered voters in a district, your demographic has only itself to blame when it doesn't get its way. There's no two ways around that.
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