Texas House Map
On Thursday, August 24, a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in San Antonio invalidated a portion of the map drawn for the Texas House of Representatives. The Court ruled that new districts should be drawn before the 2018 elections for Bell (HD 54 & HD 55), Dallas (HD 103, HD 104, HD 105), Nueces (HD 32 & HD 34) and Tarrant Counties (HD 90 and HD 93). Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has three days to declare whether the state will seek a legislative remedy. The ruling stated that if the Legislature does not intend to take up redistricting, the Court will hold a hearing to consider remedial plans beginning on September 6, 2017.
Texas Congressional Map
On August 15, a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in San Antonio ruled that the two particular districts (Congressional Districts 27 and 35) had a discriminatory purpose. Attorney General Ken Paxton affirmed that Texas won't ask lawmakers to redraw the state's congressional map, but will instead appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Texas Voter ID
On Wednesday, August 23, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos struck down the Texas Voter ID law. The ruling stated that legislation passed during legislative session did not cure the discriminatory effect of the original law. A permanent injunction was issued barring Texas from enforcing the legislation as passed out of the 85th R (SB 5) and the original 2011 law (SB 14). The state will appeal the decision.
