For the first time, someone says out loud the rumor of a special session on redistricting. Attorney General Greg Abbott let House members know in the Republican caucus meeting on Tuesday that he expects and is hoping for a special session on redistricting — sooner than later. Several lawmakers in the meeting confirmed that Abbott [...]
Posts Tagged ‘MALC’
Redistricting remains a partisan issue
We’re not surprised by this, right? Amarillo Sen. Kel Seliger offered a redistricting bill to the Senate State Affairs Committee that would formally adopt interim maps drawn by a federal court in San Antonio last year. The maps for Congressional, state Senate and House districts were used for the 2012 election while a federal court [...]
Redistricting settlement deal looking unlikely
Late last week we heard about the possibility of a settlement agreement in the San Antonio redistricting case that would allow for the creation of interim maps in time to keep the April 3 primary date. The court gave this Friday as a drop dead date for getting that done. As of today, it’s looking [...]
Could there be a settlement in the redistricting lawsuit?
Maybe. A leading player in the state’s redistricting turmoil said this morning he’s hopeful that both sides are closing in on a settlement that will salvage Texas’ April 3 primary. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has been meeting with representatives of minority groups that sued the state last year to stop new political boundaries from [...]
Texas files suit to preclear voter ID
They’re a mighty busy bunch at the OAG these days. The Texas attorney general’s office today filed suit against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice to have the state’s controversial voter ID law implemented without further delay. The law, Senate Bill 14 by state Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, was scheduled [...]
DC preclearance trial, Day One
While we wait for the Supreme Court to give us some indication of what happens next with our elections – they did not issue an opinion this week – the preclearance trial at the DC federal court got underway. State Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, testified that hearings were held statewide to allow input from [...]
Interim maps and the DC preclearance case
The federal court in San Antonio has been hearing arguments about proposed interim Congressional maps this week. Michael Li summarizes the plaintiffs’ case for why the map adopted by the Lege cannot be used, even as a starting point. Right off the bat, the panel began by asking lawyers for the plaintiffs whether it would [...]
The interim plans
Monday was the deadline for parties in the redistricting lawsuit being heard in San Antonio to file interim plans for the court to consider in the event preclearance is not granted in time for candidate filing. Texas Redistricting summarizes the various plans that were presented to the court: The Plaintiffs’ Interim Plans All of the [...]
TRO requested for redistricting plans
Texas Redistricting: This morning, MALC and the Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force asked the San Antonio panel to enter a temporary restraining order to prevent the State of Texas from implementing its redistricting plans on the grounds that they have yet to receive pre-clearance under section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. In what may [...]
DOJ says redistricting plans purposely discriminated
Game on. The Justice Department said late Friday that based on their preliminary investigation, a congressional redistricting map signed into law by Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry appears to have been “adopted, at least in part, for the purpose of diminishing the ability of citizens of the United States, on account of race, color, or [...]
Even their own experts think the Congressional map is wrong
Final arguments in the federal redistricting lawsuit should be heard today in San Antonio. On Wednesday, something truly remarkable happened during the testimony of the state’s expert witness: A Rice University political science professor, testifying Wednesday in a lawsuit over the redistricting map approved by the Texas Legislature this year, said he would have advised [...]
What if we didn’t have to worry about county lines?
The federal lawsuit that will be heard by a three-judge panel in San Antonio begins next week, but in the meantime there have been depositions taken by various players, and some interesting things have come up in them. Texas Redistricting highlights one of the assertions made by the Mexican American Legislative Caucus about the need [...]
More redistricting lawsuits filed
And to think, we don’t even have a Congressional plan yet. A federal lawsuit filed Monday by some Texas House members blasts the use of “inaccurate” 2010 Census data in the remapping of state political jurisdictions. The lawsuit by the Mexican American Legislative Caucus against Gov. Rick Perry and top lawmakers alleges that the census [...]
MALC files redistricting lawsuit
This is the second lawsuit that has been filed in the state of Texas related to the Census and redistricting. And to think, we don’t even have a map produced by the Redistricting Committee yet. A group of Hispanic lawmakers has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Rick Perry and the state of Texas, seeking to [...]
The anti-immigrant hysteria has officially begun
Didn’t take long. State Rep. Debbie Riddle camped out and endured “creepy” noises inside the cold, empty Capitol to be first in line Monday morning to file legislation targeting illegal immigration and ballot security. The Tomball Republican said she remained outside the House chamber for two days because of the importance of getting priority bill [...]