Congressional
Primary Authority: Congressional plans are enacted by the Texas State Legislature, subject to the Governor’s veto. The Legislature can override a veto with a 2/3 vote in each chamber. No party currently has a veto-proof majority in either chamber.
If a bill is presented to the governor during session, the governor has 10 days to sign or veto it; otherwise, it becomes law without signature. If the bill is delivered to the governor within 10 days of adjournment, the governor must sign or veto it within 20 days of session adjournment; otherwise, it becomes law. Sundays are excluded from these calculations.
Mapping Timeline: Not specified.
Redistricting Criteria: Not specified.
Map Challenges: Not specified.
Legislative
Primary Authority: Legislative plans are enacted by the Texas State Legislature, subject to the Governor’s veto. The Legislature can override a veto with a 2/3 vote in each chamber. No party currently has a veto-proof majority in either chamber. [Tex. Const. art. III, § 28]
If a bill is presented to the governor during session, the governor has 10 days to sign or veto it; otherwise, it becomes law without signature. If the bill is delivered to the governor within 10 days of adjournment, the governor must sign or veto it within 20 days of session adjournment; otherwise, it becomes law. Sundays are excluded from these calculations.
Backup Authority: If the Legislature fails to enact final plans by its deadline, the Legislative Redistricting Board of Texas, a 5-member politician commission, draws and adopts the plan(s). [Tex. Const. art. III, § 28]
- Members: The Board is composed of the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, the Attorney General, the Comptroller of Public Accounts, and the Commissioner of the General Land Office.
- Timing: The Board must convene within 90 days after the final adjournment of the 1st regular session following the publication of decennial census results.
- Voting: A majority is required for quorum. Final plans must be approved by at least 3 members.
Mapping Timeline: The Legislature must enact final plans by the end of its 1st regular session following the publication of decennial census results. If it fails, the Legislative Redistricting Board of Texas must adopt final plan(s) within 60 days of its convening and file them with the Secretary of State, at which point they become law. [Tex. Const. art. III, § 28]
Redistricting Criteria:
Map Challenges: The Supreme Court of Texas has original jurisdiction to compel the Legislative Redistricting Board to perform its duties by writ of mandamus or other extraordinary writs. [Tex. Const. art. III, § 28]
Ballot Measure & Referendum Processes
Types of Measures: Only the Texas Legislature can refer amendments to the ballot. There is no initiative or referendum process. [Tex. Const. art. XVII]
Previous Redistricting Cycles
2010
- Congressional
- Original Plan – SB 4
- Passed = June 20, 2011 (R-controlled)
- Signed = July 18, 2011
- Preclearance = Denied on August 28, 2012
- Second Plan – SB 4
- Passed = June 21, 2013 (R-controlled)
- Signed = June 26, 2013
- Litigation History
- Texas v. United States, 831 F.Supp.2d 244 (D.D.C. 2011): Texas submitted its enacted congressional and legislative plans to the Washington D.C. federal district court for preclearance, objections to which were filed by the United States and various intervenors. On November 8, 2011, the district court denied the state’s motion for summary judgment, finding that the state used an improper standard to evaluate its plans’ effect on minority voting rights and there existed material facts in dispute as to their compliance with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
- Vacated, 133 S.Ct. 2885 (2013): U.S. Supreme Court vacated and remanded for further consideration in light of Shelby County v. Holder and the possibility of mootness.
- Texas v. United States II, 887 F.Supp.2d 133 (D.D.C. 2012): After Texas submitted its enacted congressional and legislative plans to the D.C. federal district court for preclearance, the district court denied preclearance as to all three sets of plans on August 28, 2012.Perez v. Perry, No. 5:11-cv-00360 (W.D. Tex. Nov. 26, 2011): Following the D.C. district court’s denial of preclearance to the state’s enacted congressional plan, a federal court was petitioned to adopt interim redistricting plans in time for the upcoming 2012 elections. On November 26, 2011, the district court adopted its congressional redistricting plan, Plan C220, for interim use in the 2012 election.
- Perry v. Perez, 565 U.S. 388 (2012): Texas appealed the district court’s adopted interim redistricting plans, arguing they were unnecessarily inconsistent with the State’s enacted plans. On January 20, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Texas’s argument, vacated the district court’s order and remanded the case to allow the district court to redraw its maps or to justify why it deviated from the state’s enacted plans.
- Perez v. Perry, No. 5:11-cv-00360 (W.D. Tex. Mar. 19, 2012): On remand, the district court adopted its second interim congressional redistricting plan, Plan C235, on February 28, 2012.
- Perez v. Perry II, 26 F.Supp.3d 612 (W.D. Tex. 2014): Plaintiffs challenged the Legislature’s second enacted congressional plan, SB 4, as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander in violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, Article I, Sections 2 and 4 of the U.S. Constitution, and the 1st Amendment. On June 17, 2014, the district court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the partisan gerrymandering claims due to the lack of a clear and manageable standard to evaluate them.
- Legislative
- Original Plans – HB 150 (House); SB 31 (Senate)
- Passed = May 21, 2011 (R-controlled)
- Signed = June 17, 2011
- Preclearance = Denied on August 28, 2012
- Second Plans – SB 3 (House); SB 2 (Senate)
- Passed = June 23, 2013 (House); June 21, 2013 (Senate) (R-controlled)
- Signed = June 26, 2013
- Litigation History
- Texas v. United States, 831 F.Supp.2d 244 (D.D.C. 2011): Texas submitted its enacted congressional and legislative plans to the Washington D.C. federal district court for preclearance, objections to which were filed by the United States and various intervenors. On November 8, 2011, the district court denied the state’s motion for summary judgment, finding that the state used an improper standard to evaluate its plans’ effect on minority voting rights and there existed material facts in dispute as to their compliance with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
- Vacated, 133 S.Ct. 2885 (2013): U.S. Supreme Court vacated and remanded for further consideration in light of Shelby County v. Holder and the possibility of mootness.
- Texas v. United States II, 887 F.Supp.2d 133 (D.D.C. 2012): After Texas submitted its enacted congressional and legislative plans to the D.C. federal district court for preclearance, the district court denied preclearance as to all three sets of plans on August 28, 2012.
- Perez v. Perry, 835 F.Supp.2d 209 (W.D. Tex. 2011): After the D.C. district court denied preclearance to the Legislature’s enacted congressional and legislative plans, a federal court was petitioned to adopt interim redistricting plans in time for the upcoming 2012 elections. On November 23, 2011, the district court adopted its state House redistricting plan, Plan H302, for interim use in the 2012 elections.
- Davis v. Perry, No. 5:11-cv-00788 (W.D. Tex. Nov. 23, 2011): Following the D.C. district court’s denial of preclearance to the state’s enacted redistricting plans, the district court adopted its state Senate redistricting plan, Plan S164, for interim use in the 2012 election on November 23, 2011.
- Perry v. Perez, 565 U.S. 388 (2012): Texas appealed the district court’s adopted interim redistricting plans, arguing they were unnecessarily inconsistent with the State’s enacted plans. On January 20, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Texas’s argument, vacated the district court’s order and remanded the case to allow the district court to redraw its maps or to justify why it deviated from the state’s enacted plans.
- Perez v. Texas, No. 5:11-cv-00360 (W.D. Tex. Mar. 19, 2012): On remand, the district court issued its second interim state House redistricting plan, Plan H309, on March 19, 2012.
- Davis v. Perry, No. 5:11-cv-00788 (W.D. Tex. Mar. 19, 2012): On remand, the district court issued its second interim state Senate redistricting plan, Plan S172, on March 19, 2012.
- Evenwel v. Abbott, 136 S.Ct. 1120 (2016): Plaintiffs filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Legislature’s second state Senate plan, SB 2, as violating the 14th Amendment’s one person, one vote principle on the grounds that certain Senate districts, which were apportioned based on total population, were substantially malapportioned when considering their citizen voting age population. On November 5, 2014, the district court ruled in favor of the defendants, and on April 4, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s judgment.
- Abbott v. Perez, 138 S.Ct. 2305 (2018): Plaintiffs challenged the Legislature’s second enacted state House plan as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and as resulting in vote dilution in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The district court, after requiring the State to show that their second plan was “purged” of the taint from the first, rejected plan, initially struck down several districts as racial gerrymanders or as resulting in vote dilution. On June 25, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the district court’s judgment as to those districts struck down on VRA grounds but affirmed its ruling as to one of the districts found to be an impermissible racial gerrymander.
- Remedial State House Plan – H 411
- Approved by Court = May 28, 2019
2000
- Congressional
- State Court’s Plan (Split-control Legislature failed to pass)
- Issued = October 10, 2001
- Rejected by Texas Supreme Court = October 19, 2001
- Federal Court’s Plan
- Adopted = November 14, 2001
- Used for 2002 election
- Legislature’s Amended Plan – HB 3
- Passed = October 12, 2003 (R-controlled)
- Signed = October 13, 2003
- Preclearance = Granted on December 19, 2003
- Litigation History
- Perry v. Del Rio, 66 S.W.3d 239 (Tex. 2001): After the split-control Legislature failed to pass a congressional redistricting plan, four different lawsuits in two different state courts were filed challenging the existing districts as unconstitutionally malapportioned and requesting that the court adopt a new, constitutional plan. On December 12, 2001, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the Travis County District Court had dominant jurisdiction over the redistricting actions, and ordered that the cases proceed to trial there.
- Perry v. Del Rio, 67 S.W.3d 85 (Tex. 2001): After trial, the Travis County District Court ordered the adoption of a congressional redistricting plan on October 10, 2001, which the defendants appealed on the grounds the trial court failed to give the parties an opportunity to comment and to submit evidence about the new plan. On October 19, 2001, the Texas Supreme Court vacated the trial court’s October 10 order and remanded the case, finding that the court’s process when adopting the interim plan violated the parties’ state constitutional due process rights.
- Balderas v. State, No. 6:01-cv-158 (E.D. Tex. Nov. 14, 2001): After the Texas Supreme Court vacated the Travis County District Court’s adoption of a congressional plan, a federal court assumed responsibility to draw and adopt a new plan. On November 14, 2001, the district court adopted its own congressional redistricting plan for use in the upcoming 2002 election.
- Aff’d, 536 U.S. 919 (2002).
- League of United Latin Am. Citizens v. Perry, 548 U.S. 399 (2006): After the Legislature enacted its 2003 congressional plan (HB 3), several different plaintiffs filed federal lawsuits challenging the plan as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander in violation of the 1st Amendment and the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, and as resulting in minority vote dilution in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. On June 28, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that one of the districts violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and remanded the case to district court with instructions to correct the violations by the 2006 election.
- Legislative
- Backup Commission’s Plans – House; Senate (Split-control Legislature failed to pass)
- Passed = July 24, 2001
- Preclearance = Granted as to Senate plan on October 15, 2001; Denied as to House plan on November 16, 2001
- Litigation History
- Balderas v. State, No. 6:01-cv-158 (E.D. Tex. Nov. 28, 2001): Plaintiffs challenged the Legislative Redistricting Board’s adopted state House and Senate plans as violating the Voting Rights Act. On November 28, 2001, the district court rejected the challenges to the state Senate plan after finding the plaintiffs failed to establish violations of federal law, but ruled in favor of the plaintiffs as to their claims against the state House plan, which had been denied preclearance already. The district court created its own state House plan to address the Department of Justice’s objections and adopted it for use in future elections.
In The News
- Federal trial opens to determine whether Texas discriminated in redrawn redistricting maps, Texas Tribune (5/21/25)
- DOJ drops fight against Texas political maps as Trump administration retreats from voting rights cases, Texas Tribune (3/13/25)
- Gerrymandering gives GOP a five seat advantage in Texas, study says, Houston Public Media (9/25/24)
- Landmark 5th Circuit Ruling in Galveston County Redistricting Case Upends Minority Coalition Precedent, The Texan (8/7/24)
- Voting Rights Act doesn’t protect coalitions of racial or ethnic groups challenging political maps, appeals court rules, Texas Tribune (8/2/24)
- Fifth Circuit calls for reevaluation of minority-aggregation precedent in Texas voting rights case (corrected), JURIST (11/16/23)
- U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Republican-Drawn Texas Electoral District, Reuters (11/21/22)
- Texas Governor Must Turn Over Dropbox Files in Redistricting Case, Courthouse News Service (8/11/22)
- Texas Lawmakers Ordered to Turn Over Redistricting Records, Courthouse News Service (7/25/22)
- Supreme Court Rejects Texas GOP Lawmakers’ Bid to Block Redistricting Testimony, Washington Examiner (5/31/22)
- Federal Judges won’t Halt Texas Primary in State Senate District Being Challenged for Alleged Discrimination, The Texas Tribune (2/1/22)
- Justice Department Sues Texas Over New Redistricting Maps, AP (12/7/21)
- Texas Democrats Allege Discrimination, Challenge Redistricting Measures in 3 New Lawsuits, Austin American-Statesman (11/3/21)
- Texas Lawmakers Pass New Congressional Maps Bolstering GOP, AP (10/19/21)
- New District Maps for Texas Senate, Texas House Headed to Gov Greg Abbott's Desk, Houston Chronicle (10/15/21)
- Texas Senate Approves Congressional Map that Increases White Majority Districts, Austin American-Statesman (10/8/21)
- Texas GOP Tries to Protect US House Seats Under New Maps, AP (9/27/21)
- Texas Governor Hit with Federal Lawsuit Over Redistricting Plan, Courthouse News Service (9/1/21)
- Texas Lawmakers Approve Plan to Move March Primary Elections, if Necessary, San Antonio Express-News (8/30/21)
- Texas Officials Worry about Gaps in Census Data, KWTX (4/29/21)
- Texas Gains 4M Residents, 2 Congressional Seats in Census, AP (4/26/21)
- A Delay in Drawing New Maps this Year could Slow Next Year's Elections, Texas Tribune (2/10/21)
- Census Delays will Force Texas Lawmakers into a Special Session to Redraw Political Maps, The Texas Tribune (1/27/21)
- With Census Bureau Delays, Texas Legislative Council Says a Special Session might be Called in Summer for Redistricting, KTSM (1/7/21)
- Texas will Redraw its Congressional Maps in 2021. Here's How, Houston Public Media (12/22/20)
- Analysis: When Mapmaking Texas Politicians are Smiling and Quiet, Pay Attention, The Texas Tribune (12/16/20)
- Uncertainty Over Pandemic Protocols, Redistricting Await Texas' Next Legislative Session, Courthouse News Service (12/12/20)
- COVID could Delay Redistricting, Panelist Said, Spectrum News 1 (12/9/20)
- Republicans Kept their Grip on Texas Government in 2020. In 2021, they'll be Able to Tighten it, The Texas Tribune (11/13/20)
- Bill Filing for 2021 Texas Session Begins with Legislation on Abortion, Police Stops and Redistricting, The Texas Tribune (11/9/20)
- GOP Will Dominate Redistricting Battles with Victories in Texas, Bloomberg Government (11/4/20)
- Democrats' Hopes of Flipping Texas Again Fall Short as Republicans Dominate the State's 2020 Elections, The Texas Tribune (11/4/20)
- Lt. Governor Dan Patrick Appoints Birdwell to Senate Redistricting Committee, ltgov.texas.gov (10/20/20)
- Texas Census Advocates Worry Schedule Confusion Could Lead to Undercounting, NPR (10/2/20)
- With Time Running Out, Texas Abruptly Launches a $15 Million Ad Campaign Chasing an Accurate Census Count, The Texas Tribune (9/1/20)
- Billions of Dollars at Stake in 2020 Census as Houston Falls Behind, ABC 13 (9/1/20)
- 2020 Census 'Emergency' Threatens to Leave Out Communities of Color and Rural Americans, USA Today (8/16/20)
- Census Changes Could Take Political Power, Funding from Texas Latinos Already Hit Hard by COVID-19, KUT (8/11/20)
- Trump Plan in Allotting Congressional Seats Raises Alarm in Texas, Statesman (7/21/20)
- Census Fights Lagging Response Rates in Far West Texas Expanse, Border Report (7/6/20)
- Texans Can't Give Input Ahead Of Redistricting During The Pandemic. Groups Want That To Change, KUT (6/8/20)
