Texas

Slay the Dragon Logo

SLAY THE DRAGON follows everyday people, outraged by what they see as an attack on the core democratic principle that every person’s vote should count equally. This election year, we’re joining together with grassroots partners to put an end to gerrymandering. Because this issue impacts each state differently, we’ve created a map to help you navigate how gerrymandering affects your state and community. SLAY THE DRAGON arrives on demand April 3.

 

GET CAUGHT UP

Click on your state in the map above to find out what’s going on and how you can help.

We are partnering with organizations in Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin to support the creation of non-partisan redistricting commissions to protect votes across the country.

Map of the United States of America

Click on your state in the map above to find out what’s going on and how you can help.

We are partnering with organizations in Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin to support the creation of non-partisan redistricting commissions to protect votes across the country.

Slay the Dragon Logo

SLAY THE DRAGON follows everyday people, outraged by what they see as an attack on the core democratic principle that every person’s vote should count equally. This election year, we’re joining together with grassroots partners to put an end to gerrymandering. Because this issue impacts each state differently, we’ve created a map to help you navigate how gerrymandering affects your state and community. SLAY THE DRAGON arrives on demand April 3.

 

GET CAUGHT UP

Click on your state in the map above to find out what’s going on and how you can help.

We are partnering with organizations in Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin to support the creation of non-partisan redistricting commissions to protect votes across the country.

Map of the United States of America

Click on your state in the map above to find out what’s going on and how you can help.

We are partnering with organizations in Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin to support the creation of non-partisan redistricting commissions to protect votes across the country.

Texas

Process

Texas's state legislative and congressional districts are drawn by the Legislature by ordinary statute, and are subject to the Governor's veto. The Legislature can override vetoes with a two-thirds vote in each chamber. In the last cycle, the redistricting committees began regional public hearings throughout summer and fall of 2010. They then began legislative hearings on line-drawing in February 2011. A similar regional schedule is underway this year, and a similar start date is likely in the legislative process in 2021.

If the state legislature fails to draw new legislative districts in the first session following the Census, the Legislative Redistricting Board of Texas acts as a fallback mechanism. This Board would consist of five members: the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Attorney General, the Comptroller of Public Accounts, and the Commissioner of the General Land Office. The Board must assemble in Austin within 90 days of the end of the legislative session and must approve a district plan within 60 days of assembling. A simple majority vote of three out of five is enough for the Board to approve a new district plan.

In addition to the federal requirements of one person, one vote and the Voting Rights Act, Texas law requires that state legislative districts be contiguous. There are no state law requirements for drawing congressional districts.

Texas has no public input requirement for redistricting. However, it has a history of taking public input in the lead-up to line-drawing. Regional public hearings are occurring until the end of 2020 with later hearings likely but unscheduled. In the last cycle, regional hearings took place in the summer and fall of 2010 with more focused hearings beginning in February 2011.

Issues

  • The Voting Rights Act and the Constitution currently guarantee that minority populations should have fair opportunities to elect representatives. In Texas, this is problematic: despite picking up five more House representatives in the last two decades thanks to increases in the Hispanic population, no additional Hispanic Congresspersons have been elected. The reason? Racial gerrymandering.

  • The effort to use administrative data to estimate citizenship status for the Census would open the possibility of drawing districts of equal citizen population rather than equal total population. This would allow Hispanics to be packed into even fewer districts. Racial gerrymandering is also a significant risk in 2021.

  • In 2020, the entire Texas House and half of the Texas Senate will be up for re-election. The state House is nine seats from flipping Democratic, which would dismantle the current Republican trifecta and potentially give Democrats a seat at the redistricting table.

  • Based upon a recent estimate of congressional seat changes following the 2020 census, Texas is estimated to gain three congressional seats.

Actions

Participate in the regional public hearings happening between now and the end of 2020. Dates and locations have been provided through LWV-TX.

In 2020, Texas will hold both legislative and state Supreme Court elections.

  • Support state legislative candidates who will advocate for fair districting.

  • Elect state supreme court justices who are receptive to legal arguments in favor of voting rights.

In 2021, use public input to persuade the legislature to draw fair districts.

  • Obtain Texas redistricting data from OpenPrecincts.

  • Use software tools such as Dave's Redistricting App and Districtr to draw district maps showing either (a) what a fair map would look like, or (b) where the community you believe should be better represented is located.

If racial or partisan offenses are committed by the Legislature, federal and state lawsuits.

Contacts

Princeton Gerrymandering Project Data provided by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project

State Info

Congressional Boundaries: Drawn by legislature
State Boundaries: Drawn by legislature
Legislative Control: Republican
Governor's Political Party: Republican
Last Updated: Feb 12 2020