Today at 10 AM, the Texas Senate will reopen hearings on redistricting, and the Texas House will reopen hearings in the near future. Although it would be wonderful if this legislature would consider the terrible impact that these gerrymandered district maps have on free and fair elections, don't hold your breath.
These hearings are just to ensure the State's compliance with a potential constitutional issue. Article III, Section 28 of the Texas Constitution provides the the Texas a Legislature shall approve its maps in the first regular session after the publication of the becennial census. Because the 2020 census was delayed, these voting districts were not approved until the third special session, not in the regular session, during the last legislative session. Therefore, both houses will rehear testimony on the maps and re-vote on the maps in order to insure compliance with the Texas Constitution.
I plan to attend the redistricting hearings before the House and testify (again) on the negative impact, especially to our communities of color, for McLennan County to be gerrymandered and thus racially divided.
It is our job as citizens to ensure that our representatives provide us with the opportunity to have fair and equal representation in our government. Sadly, with the heavily gerrymandered districts across Texas, including here in McLennan County, that is not our current reality. We must keep talking about this racism every chance that we get.
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