SAN ANTONIO ? A federal judge ordered all sides in the Texas redistricting lawsuit to keep talking Monday, just hours after the attorney general announced a compromise plan that prompted immediate pushback from several minority groups involved in the case.
Attorney General Greg Abbott had said several minority groups agreed to a plan that would put two new congressional seats in Hispanic-dominated districts for this year's elections. But some of the groups that sued the state, alleging the GOP-controlled Legislature drafted redistricting maps that were discriminatory, scoffed at the new plan and said it diluted the voice of minority voters in some parts of the state.
Judge Orlando Garcia noted that Monday was the deadline for all sides to agree.
"The parties should continue their negotiations to the extent possible, but all deadlines remain in place until the Court is notified that an agreement has been reached," Garcia said in the court order.
Garcia and two other San Antonio-based federal judges are hearing the lawsuit. The judges said that if all sides couldn't draft compromise maps by Monday, then the April 3 primary would likely be delayed.
That would mark the second time the state's primary elections were pushed back because of the legal fight ? a move that Republicans feared could prevent Texas voters from helping deciding which GOP presidential candidate challenges President Barack Obama in November.
Abbott said earlier Monday that new plan, which would give Hispanics control of two of the four new congressional seats Texas earned thanks to its population spike in the 2010 census, minimizes changes to the Legislature's original redistricting maps.
"Today's maps should allow the court to finalize the interim redistricting maps in time to have elections in April," Abbott said in a statement.
But some of the groups suing the state said the deal was no compromise. The Mexican American Legislative Caucus argued that the new plan, which redraws boundaries for both congressional and state legislative districts, actually dilutes minority influence in some areas. Its chairman, Democratic state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, said the two Hispanic congressional seats would come on the condition of losing ground in other districts currently dominated by Hispanic voters.
"If you tell me we're going to get these seats at the expense of another district, that's not a win," he said.
Luis Vera, a lawyer for the League of United Latin American Citizens, predicted the court wouldn't accept the deal, saying: "It means absolutely nothing." He noted that a separate case challenging the original maps' legality was pending in federal court in Washington. Since Texas is one of nine states with a history of racial discrimination, the Washington court or the U.S. Department of Justice must pre-approve any changes to state election laws. A ruling in that case isn't expected for at least another month.
The fight over new voting maps in Texas is being driven by new census numbers that show a burgeoning Hispanic population in Texas. The stakes are unusually high because the nation's second-largest state is adding four congressional seats ? and the way they are divvyed up could be pivotal in determining which party controls the U.S. House.
The Texas Legislature got the first crack at drawing new maps for Congress and the Statehouse, but their plan was quickly challenged by Cuellar and minority groups.
If the court rejects the compromise, the judges could split the primaries into two elections ? one for the presidential race, and a later one for state and congressional elections that are at the mercy of where map lines are settled.
A split primary would let parties hold their conventions on schedule ? but could cost taxpayers $15 million.
Republican legislative leaders argued that they drew the original maps merely to benefit their party's candidates, but minority groups claim they discriminate by diluting minority voting power. All states must redraw political districts following the census every 10 years to adjust for population changes.
dr murray trial take care drake cain accuser aesop rock take care track list michael jackson trial carlos the jackal
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.