Press release from Texans for Redistricting Reform:
TEXANS DESERVE A FAIR REDISTRICTING PLAN
According to The Texas Legislative Council, "No Texas constitutional or statutory provisions address congressional redistricting." The only restraints on congressional redistricting result from rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court requiring equal population in the districts and the federal Voting Rights Act protecting minority populations.
No bills establishing comprehensive fair redistricting principles have been passed for the last 30 years. The results have been costly litigation and decades of partisan excesses, such as political gerrymandering and super majorities, leading to decreased voter interest and lower voter participation in elections for both parties.
Every Texan deserves an equal opportunity to cast an effective vote, regardless of political affiliation, race or language group. Please ask your Texas legislators to support a Congressional plan (and future legislation) based on fair redistricting principles as summarized below:
- Respect Texas’ geographic regions as defined by its 24 Councils of Governments
- Create geographically compact districts
- Do not unnecessarily split counties or cities
- Do not unnecessarily split communities of interest
- Do not split census tracts, smallest unit for redistricting
- Do not use any partisan data, including homes of incumbents
Texans for Redistricting Reform is a nonpartisan group of Texans dedicated to providing fair and effective representation for the people of Texas through the legislative enactment of fair redistricting principles and a fair redistricting plan based on these principles. We wholeheartedly endorse the legislation1 and redistricting plan2 prepared by A. J. Pate, CPA.
A. J. Pate, CPA has spent the last 20 years fighting for fair redistricting and is one of only two Texans who have submitted redistricting plans for consideration in past Legislatures, including the "Owens-Pate 1991 Redistricting Plan" cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case of Bush v. Vera (1996). Additional citations and legislation are available upon request.
For more information, please contact:
Texans for Redistricting Reform and A. J. Pate Email: [email protected]
Also, see us on Facebook at Texans for Redistricting Reform
1 See legislation text available for filing in future sessions, by bill number search for SB 1556 and SJR 43 at http://www.legis.state.tx.us/.
2 View an interactive version at http://gis1.tlc.state.tx.us/ (open Select Plans menu, choose Base Plan, open Category menu, choose Plans submitted by Public and search for PLANC106 – Pate Statewide Congressional Plan).
Scot Fahey's comment is the reason nothing changes for the better — compliant acceptance of the status quo.
Fatalism never won a battle. At least, I want to go down fighting, whatever the odds against it. At the end of the day, I will know that I have done all I could do to give the people of Texas better representation for their communities of interest.
A favorite quote from Edmund Burke applies here: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
Bill Owens has also submitted nonpartisan plans, and both the Pate and Owens maps would be a great improvement for our cities, counties and communities of interest. Besides writing to your representatives, you can contact the Redistricting Committee Chairs (Solomons and Seliger) and committee members to let them know you support these maps. The official redistricting website http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/redist/redist.html has links to the House and Senate committees that are working on the new map.
Fair redistricting would be better for our democracy, as it would create more contested elections and would not protect incumbants.