Shared from the 10/22/2019 Houston Chronicle eEdition

EDITORIAL

Stop gerrymandering

Pressure from the public can help curtail partisan efforts to draw unfair district lines.

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Associated Press file

State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa looked at maps on display before a 2013 Senate redistricting committee hearing in Austin.

Texas must redraw its congressional and legislative district lines after the 2020 census. The importance of this process cannot be stressed enough. Democratic lawmakers fled to New Mexico in 2003 in a vain effort to prevent Republicans, in control of both chambers for the first time since Reconstruction, from replacing court-approved maps from the year before in order to strengthen their legislative majorities. The gerrymandered lines were approved and Republicans have controlled both chambers ever since.

It’s time to redraw the lines again, but a lot has changed. Not only have there been population shifts, a court ruling earlier this year said Texas won’t need prior approval by the Justice Department when it draws new district lines in 2021, despite findings by a federal court that maps drawn after the 2010 census intentionally discriminated against minorities. Without the “preclearance” requirement as a backstop against discriminatory maps, Texans must pay even closer attention to the current redistricting effort.

They can start by attending one of the field hearings the state House Redistricting Committee is holding across Texas to get the public’s input on redistricting. The next two town hall meetings are scheduled for Houston: Tuesday, 3 p.m., in the Student Services Building at Lone Star College-North Harris, 2700 W.W. Thorne Drive; and Wednesday, 11:30 a.m., in the Roderick R. Paige School of Education auditorium at Texas Southern University, 3100 Cleburne Street.

Texans need to get involved before legislators start making decisions behind closed doors. If they wait till lawmakers present their proposals in public hearings, it may be too late, Terri Burke, executive director of the Texas ACLU, told the editorial board.

“With community involvement and pressure from coalitions, voting rights groups and individual voters, there is less chance that lawmakers will attempt to draw unfair or illegal maps in order to maintain partisan control,” Burke said.

Population figures from next year’s census will be given to the Legislature after it convenes in January 2021. If new district lines aren’t approved by the conclusion of its regular session in May, a decision will be made by the five-member Legislative Redistricting Board, which includes the lieutenant governor, speaker of the House, attorney general, comptroller, and commissioner of the general land office.

It’s likely that no matter what lines are drawn they will be challenged in court, given this state’s history. Redistricting needs to happen before the December 2021 deadline for candidates to file for the 2022 primary elections that March.

Making sure public input isn’t ignored could help meet that deadline. It would be even better if Texas would get the public off the sidelines and let them help draw the new lines. Even just taking steps to reduce the role partisanship plays in drawing districts would be progress.

Fourteen states have nonpartisan commissions with primary responsibility for drawing their legislative districts, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Eight states let commissions draw congressional district lines. Maybe if Texas joined that movement, legislators wouldn’t want to flee to another state to avoid a quorum call.

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