Redistricting Orders Throw Texas Politics Into Disarray
Forget everything. The candidate announcements, the relocations, the decisions not to run again, the who vs. who vs. who and the campaign finance. Poof!
With a one-paragraph order on Friday night, the U.S. Supreme Court froze the Texas congressional and legislative elections and replaced pre-holiday candidate filings, politicking and fundraising with uncertainty and chaos.
For now, there are no new legislative districts in Texas, no new congressional districts. None of the maps has been declared illegal, but no maps for House, Senate and congressional districts are in effect either. What the Legislature drew earlier this year remains mired in ...
Comments (3)
gypsy314 ne
As I have been saying from the beginning the voters should not be cheated because the liberals cry about the maps. No brainier three judges 1 democrat 2 rhinos should not decide over the voters will. Besides Illegal aliens were counted as Texans. The people will over come the cheating ways of the liberals.
gypsy314 ne
Remember a vote for a democrat is a vote for Obama and homosexuals , illegal aliens and terrorist.
jimrtex
Going ahead with the March 6 primary without the legislative and congressional districts, gives certainty for election officials and voters.
Filing for the March 6 primary started on November 28, 99 days before the primary. The comparable date for a May 22 primary is February 13. With the Supreme Court hearing on January 9, that only gives 35 days for the Supreme Court to cogitate, and have their decision implemented. If I had $10,000 to bet, I might bet that at least some of the legislative and congressional elections will be run as special elections in November, like happened in 1996 and 2006.
There is a pretty reasonable chance of a senate runoff on the Republican side, so there would be relatively high turnout for both the Republican (presindential/senatorial) primary and (senatorial) runoff under normal circumstances. There will be zero interest statewide in the Democratic presidential and senatorial primary, and no chance of a runoff.
So election officials can just pretend we don't have legislative elections next year, nor congressional elections. Election precincts can remain as they are, with a few minor local changes which have been made for commissioner precincts, population growth, etc. The district court told the SOS to make sure that county elections officials were not drawing election precincts based on the legislative plan. So election precincts are drawn based on the current precincts with adjustments for local commissioners precincts, etc. which should be precleared by now. So the voter cards can go out, with blank spaces for the legislative and congressional districts.
In 2002, the previous election after redistricting, there were only 18 contested congressional primaries (10R + 8D), 11 senate primaries (9R + 2D), and 61 house primaries (37R + 24D), so just 90 out of 426 potential primaries. Its not worth delaying the presidential, senatorial, RRC, judicial, SBOE, county, and county precinct primaries for so relatively few elections.
The precinct conventions can go ahead in March (under a new law they may be held on March 6, through Sunday March 11). They have nothing to do with any nominations other than indirectly for president.
The senatorial district conventions are not really "senatorial" district conventions, but rather partial county conventions in larger counties. They are optional. If a party prefers, they may hold a county convention instead. The legislature-drawn and court-drawn senatorial maps are identical except for Tarrant, Denton, and Parker County. Parker County is in different senatorial districts between the plans, but since it is not split, it will have a county convention. So the district court can simply let the Tarrant and Denton county parties choose which senate map they want to use and whether they want to hold a county convention instead. Remember, these conditions have zero to do with Wendy Davis and who will replace Chris Harris. They are to choose delegates to the state conventions.
If the primary were delayed to May 22, then it would be difficult to squeeze the county and senatorial districts in before the State convention - remember 1000s of delegates attend and they need to arrange hotel rooms and transportation, and perhaps make work, family, and other arrangements.
The parties use results from congressional and senatorial districts to apportion delegates to the national convention. But voters just see "Romney", "Obama", and some candidates whose name I can't remember. Oh yeah, "Paul". "Gingrich", "Bachmann", "Santorum", "Huntsman" and "Cain". The parties can simply apportion based on totals from globs of precincts just like they do now. If these match up with certain "districts" that is their choice.
Now let's assume that the legislative and congressional districts get sorted out by mid-to-late January. They might not be. And it is possible that one map will be but the others won't, or the maps for part of the state will be in place, etc.
At that point, the district court can go ahead and order a special primary to be held on May 22, coincident with the primary runoff. Since this would not be the general primary, but a special primary, the court can fashion some special rules. Early voting can be limited to one week, and the primary can be cancelled for races in which only one candidate filed. The Democrats probably won't need statewide elections. The Republicans will likely have a senatorial runoff, and in some places there will be one or two or three added races on the ballot, along with a smattering of county runoffs. There is almost no additional cost for the Republicans, and some for the Democrats, who might be able to consolidate precincts in many areas.
If the legislature-drawn districts end up being used, they can be rectified to the election precincts used for the primary. In some cases, the splits are minimal. If a precinct has 4300 persons, with 200 in one congressional district and 4100 in another, simply put the whole precinct in the district with the larger population.
If the split is more substantial, some thought might be needed. Put one precinct in one district, and the next in the other. And in some cases a precinct might need to be split.
Logistically, it is feasible to hold elections on split precincts, and it is done all the time because election precincts don't always conform with city and ISD and special district boundaries. It is logistically feasible to hold elections with split precincts. It happens all the time because election precincts don't conform to city and ISD and special district boundaries. There can be 100s of ballot types in Harris County, but a voter can get the correct one regardless where they vote early.
The runoff already stomped on the May uniform primary, thanks to Leticia Van de Putte and Dan Branch. Having some legislative and congressional primaries on May 22 won't hurt any more.
In 2002, there were 3 congressional runoffs (2R + 1D), 2 senatorial runoffs (1R + 1D), and 15 house runoffs (9R + 6D). These would be held in July at scattered districts around the state.
The minor parties, Greens and Libertarians, and any new parties, hold their precinct conventions the week of the primary. If the primary is not moved they don't have to change. These parties make county and district nominations soon after. If there aren't legislative or congressional districts, they can simply wait for those to be settled before those nominations are made.
Since the Libertarian national convention is in May, a delay could make it more difficult for Texas Libertarians to participate.
A new party, Americans Elect, will attempt to qualify. Under Texas law, their petitioning period begins at the time of their precinct conventions which are coincident with the primary. Delay the primary and you wrong foot their petition efforts. Independent candidates also petition beginning after the primary (or primary runoff). If the primary is kept the same, any independent candidates for offices other than the legislature or congress will be able to gather signatures at the time they had planned.
Signature gathering for congressional and legislative districts can wait until the districts are settled.