Abbott

Supreme Court Rules on Texas Redistricting

By EditorJul 09, 2018

Texas - Abbott v. Perez This is the most protracted post-census 2010 litigation to date. The original case challenged the Texas legislatures’ 2011 redistricting maps, but the litigation now centers around a new set of congressional and state legislative maps that Texas adopted in 2013. These “new” maps are actually closely based on the maps that the federal district court overseeing the litigation drew as interim maps under the Supreme Court’s guidance after it determined the initial interim maps went beyond the limited purpose of correcting legal deficiencies in the 2011 maps. . The issue before the Supreme Court this…

Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting LitigationAbbott, Supreme Court, Texas, texas redistricting

Listen to U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument Audio in Evenwel v. Abbott

By EditorJan 25, 2016

On December 8, 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Evenwel v. Abbott, on the concept of “one person, one vote” and whether states could consider total population or the number of eligible voters when redrawing legislative districts. Click below to listen.

Redistricting, Redistricting LitigationAbbott, evenel, texas redistricting

Do Ineligible Voters Infringe on Eligible Voter’s Rights?

By EditorMar 11, 2015

The Supreme Court will decide soon whether to take the case of a Texas voter who claims that her vote has been unconstitutionally diluted because her rural district has substantially more voters compared to other, urban districts comprised of many noncitizen, ineligible voters. The claim is that this makes her vote less influential than her counterparts in urban districts. The practical question in this case is whether line-drawers should be using 'total population' or "citizen voting age population' as the measure for drawing equally populated election districts. This Cato Institute article explains the case; Evenwel v. Abbott in more detail.

RedistrictingAbbott, cvap, Evenwel, Texas