EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — State Rep. Vince Perez, D-El Paso, addressed the outcome of the Supreme Court’s ruling that weakened the Voting Rights Act, and how he believes it may affect El Paso in the redistricting battle.

In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority found that Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District — which stretched over 200 miles and links parts of Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge — relied too heavily on race, according to the Associated Press.

Supreme Court weakens the Voting Rights Act and aids GOP efforts to control the House

Justice Samuel Alito wrote in part of their ruling, “That map is an unconstitutional gerrymander.”

Last year, Texas Republicans redrew the U.S. House districts map to give the party an advantage of five seats.

“This is going to be, this is very concerning for all of us who have been fighting the redistricting battle here in Texas, but I think all El Pasoans are going to realize just how consequential this court decision is,” Perez said during a press conference on Thursday, April 30, outside his district office, located at 100 N. Ochoa Street, Suite A.

Perez explained that the new redistricting map will break the vote in El Paso into two, as there will be two members of Congress representing the Sun City.

“We’re going to have one that represents North I-10 and one that represents South I-10. The one that goes from North I-10 is going to go from El Paso, all the way to Lubbock. The one from South I-10 is going to go from El Paso all the way into Central Texas,” he said.

Perez said that the U.S. is in an era where “politicians don’t care about fair and equal representation.”

“Basically, what the court has said is that before partisanship, legislatures were allowed to discriminate based on partisanship, whether you were Republican or Democrat. But now, they can also basically go in and also discriminate on race,” he said.

Perez urged El Pasoans to vote to make sure their voices are heard.

“If you are eligible, please register to vote. If you haven’t done so already and participate in the electoral process for no other reason, even if there might not be a candidate, whatever it is that you’re really interested, you need to demonstrate to the government that’s in power that you are making your opinions heard and you will be heard, because unfortunately too many people don’t exercise that right and that is what makes the entire community vulnerable is when we have low voter participation rates such as El Paso,” he said.

According to the Associated Press, it’s not only the Republicans seeking an edge for control of the U.S. House. In states like California and Virginia, Democrats could gain five and four additional seats respectively.

A redistricting battle among states has reshaped the US House map ahead of the midterm election

Five states advocating for congressional redistricting fell short in either the Legislature or the courts, including Maryland, New York, Indiana, Kansas, and Illinois.

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