Dean On Supreme Court Ruling On Texas Redistricting

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement on the today's Supreme Court ruling on the Texas Redistricting case:

"Despite the efforts of Tom DeLay, Governor Rick Perry, Republican legislative leaders and the political appointees of the Bush Administration Justice Department, who sought to trample on the voting rights of Texans, the Supreme Court recognized that this kind of partisan trickery is unlawful and cannot be used for partisan political gain. Today's decision clearly reaffirms the importance of re-authorizing the Voting Rights Act, because we now have clear evidence that Tom DeLay's scheme did, in fact, violate section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and undercut the voting rights of 100,000 American citizens, especially Hispanic voters.

"At the same time, it's disappointing that the Court failed to uphold the rights of thousands of Texans, both African Americans and Hispanics. The right to vote and have that vote counted is the most basic, precious right of our democracy, guaranteeing every American a chance to participate in our democracy. Recently we've seen that right under siege across the country by Republicans engaging in partisan political schemes that undermine our democracy.

"The Democratic Party will continue to fight to protect the right to vote, and to make it easier, not harder, for Americans to exercise their right to vote and have that vote counted. Next week as we celebrate our nation's independence, let us each recommit ourselves to the struggle to ensure voting rights for every American."