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 be an opening salvo for an interim fix, MALC and the Task Force also suggested that it likely would be necessary for the San Antonio panel to “devise a temporary court-ordered plan in time for the 2012 election cycle” in order to make sure the state’s responsibility to hold congressional and state house elections is not “completely thwarted.”
You can read the full motion here. As we know, the DC court has oral arguments in the case scheduled for November 2, so there’s no way there will be resolution before the start of the filing period, and it may not happen by the deadline. Keep your eye on this, it could be a game changer.