On December 6, the Texas Supreme Court issued a 15-page opinion in Re Ranya Khanoyan, 21-1111. The plaintiffs charged that the new Harris County Commission redistricting plan is a partisan gerrymander, planned to help Democrats. The Court said the case was filed too late. It notes that the redistricting plan was passed on October 28, 2021, but the lawsuit against that plan was not filed until November 16, 2021.
Another issue in the case was whether the State Constitution requires that every voter be permitted to vote for County Commissioner at least once every four years. Because county commissioners have 4-year terms, and the elections are staggered, there are some voters who could not vote for County Commissioner in 2020 (because they lived in a district that wasn’t up that year). But now those same voters live in a district in which that district won’t be up in 2022 either, due to boundary changes. The court said that could be adjudicated in the future, and also suggested that the legislature and the voters consider amending the Texas constitution to provide that in the election following redistricting, all districts should have elections, some for 2-year terms and others for 4-year terms.
SMD = AUTOMATIC ANTI-DEMOCRACY MINORITY RULE REGIMES
— SINCE LATE 1200S — OLDE ENGLISH HOUSE OF COMMONS
1/2 OR LESS VOTES X 1/2 RIGGED DISTS = 1/4 OR LESS CONTROL
—-
PR SINCE 1840S -1840S
When Texas switched to four year terms in 1954, the problem of redistricting may not have been recognized. This was before Avery v. Midland County. County commissioners were viewed as administrators of their precinct, rather than members of a legislative body for the county. Other countywide offices were switched to four terms, and staggered so that the county judge and some county office holders were elected in one election and the sheriff and other county office holders were elected in the next.
In Texas, the whole senate is elected following redistricting. They then draw for terms, with half serving an initial two year term, and half serving an initial four year term. In Illinois, senators are drawn into three classes, one class serving terms of 4, 4, and 2 years; the second 4, 2, and 4; and the third terms of 2, 4, and 4.
In North Dakota if a legislative district is modified such that a certain percentage of voters could not have voted for legislators who continued to serve a four-year term, their term would be truncated and they would be forced to run with the new electorate.
Another way to accomplish this would be to exempt from taxation persons who were denied representation for two years.
In benighted California, they used the euphemism of “deferred” for the 10% of Californians who were denied senate representation from 2012 to 2014.
The Rodney Ellis plan (did Chad Dunn draw it for him?), flips two precinct numbers.
Odd-numbered precinct numbers elect in presidential-election years; even-numbered in even years.
So if Precinct 4 is renumbered to Precinct 3, then voters who last elected a commissioner in 2018 will not be able to elect a replacement until 2024 even though the precinct has not changed appreciably.
Meanwhile, voters who were in Precinct 3, will get to elect a second commissioner even though their precinct has not changed.
Bait and switch stuff in ANTI-Democracy minority rule Texas ???
How many voters move from odd/even areas to even/odd areas — get to vote for 2 gerrymander hacks in 4 year cycle ???
Worse for minority rule USA Senate – 6 year terms with multiple possible vacancy elections — possible 3-4-5-6 votes per cycle ???