texasgop.org
Redistricting needed to correct a travesty of democracy
What would you do if after casting your vote on Election Day you learned
that someone had secretly taken your ballot and thrown it in the trash?
Imagine how angry, frustrated and betrayed you would feel. "What
happened to the principle of one man, one vote?" you might ask in
outrage.
The disturbing truth is that in November 2002, nearly ten percent of
Texans' votes cast in congressional races were effectively thrown away.
Election returns show that fifty-six percent of Texans voted for the GOP
congressional candidate in 2002. Yet Republicans received less than 47%
of the seats.
This travesty of democracy is caused by the unfair way congressional
district lines are currently drawn. According to the Center for Voting
and Democracy, a non-partisan Washington D.C.-based think tank, "[Texas]
Democrats drew the most effective partisan gerrymander for congressional
elections in the nation in 1991." The Almanac of American Politics
agreed, labeling the Democrats' work "the shrewdest gerrymander of the
1990's."
In 2001, our elected legislators had the opportunity to right the wrongs
of the past by enacting a fair plan that respected communities of common
interest and the will of Texas voters. But State House Democrats refused
to pass a congressional redistricting plan, and instead abdicated their
constitutional responsibility to a group of appointed federal judges who
imposed the map Texas has today.
The federal judges drew a map that met the bare minimum legal
requirements while making sure it was not "avoidably detrimental to
Members of Congress of either party holding unique, major leadership
posts." In other words, the court chose to protect incumbent politicians
instead of working to correct the horrible Democrat gerrymandering of
1991. This explains why a majority of Texans are not getting what they
are voting for today.
The federal court admitted that its interim map was not intended to
reflect Texans' voting behavior or minority population growth across the
state. In fact, the court stated that creating additional minority or
Republican districts, in accordance with population and electoral
changes since the last census, is "a quintessentially legislative
decision."
Earlier this year, legislators once again had the opportunity to do
right by Texans and fulfill their constitutional responsibilities by
passing a final redistricting plan. But House Democrats, desperate to
protect their synthetic congressional majority and the national Democrat
Party, ran away to Oklahoma and shut down the legislature.
Today, Texas stands at the crossroads. Democrats want Texas to go down
the road to nowhere, where nothing is done on redistricting and the
current, blatantly unfair map is left in place. If that is the path
Texas chooses, thousands and thousands of voters will continue to have
their ballots disregarded on Election Day and rapidly growing minority
populations will continue to be under-represented.
The second option, championed by Governor Rick Perry and Republicans,
will reestablish the principle of one man, one vote in Texas
congressional elections and provide new leadership opportunities for
minority Texans.
Gov. Perry is right to call a special session of the legislature to
finally pass a fair congressional redistricting plan. Democrats have
stifled Texans' voices for their own political gain for too long. To
allow Democrats to continue to disenfranchise Texas voters would be an
absolutely irresponsible travesty of our democratic system. The
legislature must enact a fair redistricting plan now, before the next
election, so that Texans' voices are finally heard and respected.
As an American and a Texan, voting for your elected officials - and
having your vote count - is your right. The Democrats should no longer
be allowed to take that right away from you. |
