Source: Austin Statesman

A federal judge’s ruling last week that the city of Pasadena tried to dilute the voting power of its fast-growing Latino population through the use of at-large council districts could change how Texas officials enforce voting rights laws in the state, though the case is likely to be appealed. What’s more certain is that the decision serves as another reminder of the barriers to political power for Latinos in local government across the state. An American-Statesman investigation in October found that more than 1.3 million Hispanics in Texas live in cities or counties with no Hispanic representation on their city council or commissioners’ court, disparities that remain high even when accounting for noncitizens.