For the purpose of this discussion assignment, I chose "Does Texas Election System Discriminate Against Racial and Ethnic Minorities". The poll was conducted by the University of Texas at Austin and published on June 30, 2021. I was interested in learning about the poll since racial discrimination is a common challenge in the United States and it undermines the economic, political, and social growth of society. Furthermore, the last presidential election, cases of the election system and discrimination posed a challenge to the fairness of the election depending on the political presidential candidate and their supporters. Some citizens questioned the credibility of the election since it was considered to discriminate against racial and ethnic minorities. Currently, the United States is experiencing a wave of bills moving through state parliaments to restrict votes. The socio-political challenge led the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin to conduct a poll christened, "Does Texas Election System Discriminate Against Racial and Ethnic Minorities" in June to understand the view of Texans on the socio-political challenge. The results of the survey illustrate that Texans are divided on the issue based on their political affiliation and a majority (51%) believe that the state’s election system does not discriminate against racial and ethnic minorities.
Political party ideologies play a critical role in determining the personal views of their supporters. Based on the results of the survey, Texans with Republican identification and those with Democratic identification have varying opinions on the state's election system and whether it promotes racial and ethnic minority discrimination. A majority of Democrats believe that the Texas election system promotes discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities. The poll categorized the democrats into three distinctive groups – lean democrats, not very strong democrats, and strong democrats. The survey results indicate that 80% of the strong democrats believe that the Texas election system enhances racial and ethnic minority discrimination ( The University of Texas at Austin, 2021) . The polls reflect the democrats’ political ideologies. Democrat legislators have been fighting for voting rights to be expanded and to be more inclusive. However, congressional Republicans have been advocating for strict voting rights as a method of making elections in the country fair and credible. The difference in political ideologies concerning voting rights in the United States is shown by the results. Lean Democrats in Texas acknowledge that the state's election system is biased and promotes discrimination against ethnic and racial minorities. According to the participants who identify as lean democrats, 76% of them believe that the Texas election system is unfair and does not encourage inclusivity of the racial and ethnic minorities ( The University of Texas at Austin, 2021) . The percentage of the not very strong democrats who participated in the polls and believe that the state’s election system is unfair and discriminative stood at 69% ( The University of Texas at Austin, 2021) . Texans democrats who acknowledged that the state’s election system does not promote the discrimination of the racial and ethnic minorities stood at 10% for both strong and lean democrats and 11% for not very strong democrats ( The University of Texas at Austin, 2021) . Finally, 20% of the not very strong democrats, 14% of the lean democrats, and 10% of strong democrats were undecided or had no opinion on the nature of the state's election system and how it impacts racial and ethnic minority discrimination. The results of the survey align with the general view of democrats in the country.
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The distinction between Republicans and Democrats is based on their political ideologies on social, economic, and political issues. The poll on whether the Texas election system discriminates against racial and ethnic minorities shows the division in political ideologies based on political party affiliation. The researchers divided the Republican supporters into three groups – lean Republicans, not very strong Republicans, and strong Republicans. According to the statistics, 93% of strong Republicans believe that the Texas election is fair and does not enhance discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities in the state. Furthermore, 85% of lean Republicans acknowledged that Texas' election system is not discriminative while 73% of not very strong Republicans opined that the state's election system does not promote discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities ( The University of Texas at Austin, 2021) . The number of Republicans who believe that the state's election laws are discriminative stands at 14% for the not very strong Republicans, 3% for the strong Republicans, and 5% for the lean Republicans respectively. The percentage of Republicans who had no opinion is 10% for the lean Republicans, 13% for the not very strong Republicans, and 4% for the strong Republicans ( The University of Texas at Austin, 2021) . The statistics are from the polls illustrate the ideological conflict between Republicans and Democrats in the United States on social, economic, and political issues.
The University of Texas computed the results to reflect the overall population to provide the final results on the topic. The overall results show that 37% of Texans acknowledge that the state's election system enhances discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities. Additionally, 51% believe that the election is inclusive while 12% of the total participants had no opinion on the matter. The overall results may be interpreted to mean that Texas is a Republican stronghold as the views of the majority are inclined towards the political ideologies of the Republican party. Based on party identification, the poll suggests that 77% of the Democrats believe that the state's election system is discriminative while 6% of Republicans acknowledge that the election system enhances discrimination ( The University of Texas at Austin, 2021) . The independents are divided on the issue with only 32% of the participants identified as independents acknowledge that the election system encourages racial and ethnic minority discrimination. Moreover, 87% of Republicans do not believe that the Texan election system discriminates based on race and ethnicity. The number of independents who believe that the Texas election system enhances discrimination is higher compared to that of Democrats at 45% and 10% respectively. However, 13%, 24%, and 7% of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans had no opinion on the issue ( The University of Texas at Austin, 2021) . The results of the polls continue to illustrate the ideological differences and diversity of Texas.
Texas has liberals, conservatives, and moderates who hold divergent political views. The liberals lead in the number of people who believe that the state’s election system laws enhance discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities. The figure stands at 82% of the liberals, 42% of moderates, and 8% of the conservatives respectively. Furthermore, 86% of conservatives, 34% of moderates, and 8% of liberals who participated in the polls opined that Texas' election system does not contribute to racial and ethnic minority discrimination ( The University of Texas at Austin, 2021) . Finally, 11%, 24%, and 6% of the liberals, moderates, and conservatives did not know or have an opinion on the issue. The results continue to illustrates the diversity of Texas and its impact on the political ideology and opinions in the area. Furthermore, it reflects the challenges facing American society as citizens' social, economic, and political views are inclined towards the political parties that they support and ideologies. The other areas that the polls focused on are race, gender, location, education levels, religious affiliation, and fundamentalism. As expected the division in opinion based on race was evident in the results. A majority of African-Americans in the state believe that the Texas election system is discriminative while whites believe that it is inclusive. The results stood at 63% for both races. Surprisingly, the Hispanics were divided on the issue as 44% believed that the election system encourages discrimination while 42% believed that the election system is fair and promotes inclusivity ( The University of Texas at Austin, 2021) . The results are surprising since Hispanics are considered to be racial and ethnic minorities and they could have had a different opinion on the matter.
Overall, the poll illustrates the diversity of Texas and differences in opinion in the region. Texans have a diverse political culture that depends on party affiliation, levels of education, religious groupings, and ideology. The poll results illustrate how the region is divided on political, economic, and social issues. Texans embrace differences in opinion and it shows that the state has freedom of speech and encourages people to be independent thinkers. Unfortunately, political affiliation and party identification, and race play a critical role in determining a Texan's political view. Consequently, Texans’ economic, social, and political opinions are divided based on the region’s political culture.
References
The University of Texas at Austin. (2021, June 30). Does Texas election system discriminate against racial and ethnic minorities (June 2021) . The Texas Politics Project. https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/set/does-texas-election-system-discriminate-against-racial-and-ethnic-minorities-june-2021#overall
