AUSTIN -- The Texas Democratic Party says its presidential delegate-awarding system is not subject to the federal Voting Rights Act, which protects minority voters.

Attorneys for the party made that argument in response to a lawsuit filed by the League of United Latin American Citizens and others that say the Texas system discriminates against Hispanics.

The party is not a state and thus is not covered by the Voting Rights Act, attorney Chad Dunn said Tuesday in explaining the party's court filings.

"Political parties are not required to go to the government and get approval for how they choose to select their nominees," Dunn said. He said the party's rules and bylaws "ensure that various minority interests have full participation and inclusion."

LULAC and the Mexican American Bar Association of Houston sued the party this month in federal court in San Antonio, contending that the presidential delegate selection system is part of the election process and cannot discriminate against minorities.

Plaintiffs' attorney Jose Garza said that political parties adopt their delegate rules with authority granted by the state and that the state must adhere to the Voting Rights Act, meaning the delegate allocation rules have to be approved by federal authorities.

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery has indicated he may rule this week.

The lawsuit contends that the complicated Texas delegate system -- which included a March 4 primary and caucus and Senate district caucuses March 29 -- unfairly dilutes Latino votes by allotting fewer presidential delegates to heavily Hispanic areas.

Nearly all the delegates are apportioned based on voter turnout in state Senate districts in the previous two elections.

This year, that meant that some predominantly Hispanic districts, where turnout was low in 2004 and 2006, got fewer delegates than others, particularly urban, predominantly black districts where turnout was higher. Latino districts favored Sen. Hillary Clinton; black districts favored Sen. Barack Obama.

Final delegate distribution is to be determined at the party's state convention in Austin on June 6-7. Dunn said it's critical that the matter be resolved by then.

Garza said the plaintiffs are disputing the system for allocation, not whom the delegates are allotted to. He suggested that using a proportion of overall party support in a Senate district, instead of raw numbers of votes, would be more fair to Latinos.

"We're a young population that has suffered the effects of discrimination. We register at lower levels," Garza said.

He said the Texas Democratic Party seems to embrace the Voting Rights Act, which has applied to Texas for 35 years, only when it suits the state party.

"The Democratic Party is not a naive child who has just recently come into the playground where the Voting Rights Act is effective," Garza said.

Democratic Party lawyers say the general system for selecting Texas delegates has been in place for 20 years.

Plaintiffs say that the Texas system's most recent rules were adopted in 2007 and that the high-interest presidential primary made the average voter more familiar with it.

Democratic spokesman Hector Nieto said the party strives to ensure an equal opportunity for all voters.

"Both the Texas Democratic Party and LULAC, we share the same goals. We want to make certain that participation by Hispanics occurs in both the electoral and governing process," he said.

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