That’s fourteen lawsuits related to redistricting.
At least 14 lawsuits have been filed against the state’s recent redistricting efforts, with more likely on the way.
Every decade, Texas lawmakers are responsible for redrawing political boundaries in light of population changes. The matter always ends up in court.
A wide range of groups and voters hope the courts throw out the maps approved by state lawmakers earlier this year and draw the districts themselves. Time is of the essence, as the new districts must be ready in time for candidates to file this year for the 2012 ballot.
Last week, the state of Texas filed a report in several of the cases outlining every redistricting case pending so far. As of June 29, there were 14 cases in total: seven in federal court and seven in state court.
Key issues in the cases include Latino representation, how prisoners should be counted and whether redistricting plans already drawn up are unconstitutional because they relied on U.S. Census data which counted illegal immigrants.
Some of these will likely be combined with others, and some may not survive a motion to dismiss, but that’s still quite a workload for the election law types. I’ll say again, I fully expect that we’ll have a few new districts to play with for the 2016 elections, at least if recent history is any guide. Click the link above to see summaries of the various suits. The Trib has more.