ICYMI: Redistricting Hearings in Texas Started, Kicking Off Our Chance to Fight for Fair Maps and Hold Republicans Accountable

For Immediate Release:
September 10, 2021
Contact:
Fabiola Rodriguez
rodriguez@redistrictingaction.org

Demands for a fair and transparent process that results in maps where both parties have to compete to win the support of the voters, continue to dominate the testimony as redistricting hearings in Texas continue. All On The Line and partner organizations are connecting voters in Texas with the hearing most convenient to them to ensure there is robust public input. 
 

WFAA 8 News, cited Texans who testified during this week’s hearings as “question[ing] the power of their voice and vote because they live in districts they believe are drawn to exclude them.”
 

At a time when the Texas legislature should be working to make hearings accessible to all to ensure a transparent process, they’re too focused on implementing extreme legislation such as the voter suppression bill, SB1 and the anti-choice bill, SB8.
 

Conversely, All On The Line and partner organizations are working tirelessly to engage and educate Texans about the redistricting process to ensure fair maps that allow voters to choose their representatives and hold them accountable at the ballot box. 
 

Statement from Texas AOTL State Director, Genevieve Van Cleve:

“Redistricting is a foundational process in American democracy that deeply impacts policy, resources, and one that will determine our political landscape for the next decade. Every Texan has the right to know when redistricting hearings are scheduled and how to participate in them. Right now only politicians, redistricting lawyers, and a handful of dedicated volunteers know about the upcoming hearings and this is unacceptable. That’s why it’s critical for the legislature’s redistricting committees to share information about current and future hearings more widely and with greater notice to allow Texans to participate in this important process. AOTL Texas and our partner organizations will continue to fight to ensure that there is a fair process that results in maps that accurately reflect our state’s communities of interest and our growing urban and suburban communities.”

WFAA 8: Here’s why Texas’s next political battle over redistricting matters to you

KEY POINTS:

• This year has been polarizing in Texas, with ugly political battles over abortion, voting, guns, and race education.

• A third special session begins Sept. 20 with redistricting on the agenda.

• “How districts are drawn effects every political issue in our state,” said an Austin resident, who testified virtually [...]

• “If politicians are elected from districts that don’t reflect the actual population, you end up with situations where politicians support policies that the vast majority of people in their district oppose,” the voter said.

• Millions of Texans question the power of their voice and vote because they live in districts they believe are drawn to exclude them.

• “I’m not here to be a Republican or a Democrat, I’m here to be a citizen of the United States, a citizen of Texas and I want my voice heard,” another voter said in testimony before the committee. She told committee members she lives in Galveston and believes Texas’s congressional, state House and Senate districts are drawn to suppress certain neighborhoods.

• Redistricting in Texas has been fraught with accusations of gerrymandering for decades.

• Texas redistricting is a partisan process, with lines drawn and approved by the politicians themselves.

• Districts are often precisely designed to accomplish one of two goals: either lump a lot of voters of one party together so those voters have a lot of power in that single district. Or, split those voters up into a lot of districts to water down their power.

• “Austin is a prime example. It could be in one congressional district, but it’s split among six in order to diminish the democratic vote there,” said Michael Li, senior counsel at The Brennan Center’s Democracy Project.

• The Austin voter who testified at Wednesday’s [...] hearing told committee members, “When politicians manipulate maps for personal or political gain, it prevents residents like me from having our voice heard.”

• “You can have the fairest, most free election on gerrymandered maps, and it will produce a bad outcome,” he said.

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