Center for the Study of Democracy

Since race-conscious redistricting and the creation of effective minority districts remains the basis upon which most African-American and Latino officials gain election, the Voting Rights Act, including both Sections 2 and 5, remains a valuable tool to protect the ability of minorities to elect their preferred candidates. The evidence presented demonstrates that the fundamental argument in favor of the creation of majority-minority districts remains valid today: The vast majority of minority legislators still win election from majority minority districts. The share of non-black-majority districts with African-American state legislators and congressional representatives remains extremely low – 5 percent or less in 2005. Majority-Hispanic districts play a similarly crucial role in the election of Latino officials. The share of non-Hispanic-majority districts electing Latinos to legislative office is minuscule – less than 4 percent of these districts elected Latinos in 2005 in the ten states studied here. Latino-majority districts continue to elect the overwhelming majority of Latino officials.