Voter Registration
The last day to register to vote is Monday April 30, 2012
Early voting
Early voting will be held weekdays Monday thru Friday May 14 - May 18 and May 21 - May 25, 2012 from 8:00am to 5:00pm in the basement of the Navarro County Courthouse, 300 W. Third Ave., Corsicana.
Early voting will be held on the weekend Saturday May 19 from 7:00am to 7:00pm and Sunday May 20 from 12:00pm to 5:00pm in the basement of the Navarro County Courthouse, 300 W. Third Ave., Corsicana.
Mail-in requests
Mail-in ballot requests should be mailed to: Danda Parker, Elections Administrator, P.O. Box 1018, Corsicana, TX 75151. Applications for ballots by mail must be received no later than the close of business on Tuesday May 22.
May 29 Primary Election Day Polling Places: 7:00am to 7:00pm
Precinct No. Location:
101 YMCA Rhoads Optimist Room, 400 Oaklawn Drive, Corsicana
103 Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints, 3800 Emhouse Road, Corsicana
104 Lone Star Cowboy Church, 4495 West State Highway 22, Corsicana
105 Barry Methodist Church, Main Street, Barry
106 Emhouse Community Center, 503 North Hopkin Street, Emhouse
107 Rice City Hall, 203 East Calhoun, Rice
108 Chatfield Community Center, 4808 FM Road 1603, Chatfield
109 Roane Baptist Church, 5118 FM Road 3401, Roane
200 Martin Luther King Center, 1114 East Sixth Avenue, Corsicana
201 Bear's Den, 802 South Second Street, Corsicana
202 House of Praise (formerly Church of God), 1345 West 13th Avenue, Corsicana
203 Kerens ISD Administration Building, 200 Bobcat Lane, Kerens
204 Powell Volunteer Fire Station, 201 Carr Street, Powell
205 Eureka United Methodist Church, 8644 South U.S. Highway 287, Eureka
206 Mildred Middle School, 5475 South U.S. Highway 287, Corsicana
300 Navarro College Cook Center, 3100 West Collin Avenue, Corsicana
301 Navarro County Courthouse, 300 West Third Avenue, Corsicana
303 Dawson Volunteer Fire Station, Main Street, Dawson
304 Navarro Government Center, 222 North Harvard, Navarro
305 Angus City Hall, 6008 South I-45, Corsicana
306 Retreat City Hall, 102 S. Spikes Road (FM Road 709), Corsicana
307 Richland City Hall, 103 West Main Street, Richland
308 Winkler Masonic Lodge, FM Road 416, Streetman
400 Westside Baptist Church, 1522 North 24th Street, Corsicana
401 Navarro County Justice Center, 312 West Second Avenue, Corsicana
402 Westhill Church Of Christ, 3400 West State Highway 22, Corsicana
403 Blooming Grove Fire Dept, 101 South Hinkley, Blooming Grove
404 Frost ISD Administration Building, 208 North Wyrick, Frost
405 Silver City Volunteer Fire Station, 555 FM Road 55, Purdon
406 Pursley Volunteer Fire Station, 8612 FM Road 709, Purdon
March 6, 2012
Chairman's Update: February 2012
Other than the San Antonio three-judge federal panel conducting a trial involving the RPT on the State Senate map, attending Court hearings on the other maps, the Court issuing new redistricting lines, having to completely rewrite the State Party rules because of court orders, and holding an emergency SREC meeting to deal with the crisis - nothing much happened in February!
All tongue-in-cheek comments aside, as has been reported in our previous emails, most of the RPT's and my attention in February was consumed by the court cases pertaining to redistricting and in then dealing with the fallout. Despite all the distraction, I was actually able to undertake some normal State Party Chairman duties and also traveled to several events this past month. During the first week of February, I had the opportunity to sit down with new TFRW President Carolyn Hodges to discuss how the TFRW and RPT can work better together. I also filled her in on the preliminary Victory 2012 plans drafted by Victory Chairman Ed Emmett.
Later on in the week, I had an opportunity to speak to the TFRW Leadership Day. This event was exceptionally well attended with several hundred enthusiastic TFRW representatives from around the state. Carolyn Hodges was actually a teacher of mine, as well as two of my siblings, while we were students at Memorial Junior High in Houston - so I am absolutely delighted that she is the new TFRW President. In between TFRW events, I had the opportunity to travel to Denton County to speak to the Denton Republican Club. Denton County GOP Chair Dianne Edmondson was there, along with SREC member Tom Washington. A couple of days later, I traveled to Collin County to attend the Collin County Lincoln Day Dinner. The guest speaker was Star Parker, who put on a dynamic performance. Collin County GOP Chairman Fred Moses did his usual outstanding job as the event was exceptionally well attended with hundreds of Collin County Republican supporters.
The following Monday, I drove from Houston to Tyler to attend a fundraising event for the Republican Party of Texas hosted by State Senators Kevin Eltife, Bob Deuell and Robert Nichols. SREC Committeewoman Dianne Caron also attended and helped represent the RPT. The event was very successful and we will be providing a full report on it shortly. I then drove from Tyler to Williamson County, where that evening, County Chairman Bill Fairbrother pulled off a coup by having Governor Rick Perry as a featured speaker. There was tremendous press coverage for the event since Governor Perry was giving his first major speech since returning to Texas. The Governor's speech was particularly fiery and well received. During the time I have been Chairman, Governor Perry has made himself available many times to both local parties and the State Party to assist with fundraising and other events. I know I speak for all Republicans in Texas when I say how appreciative I am of his help and efforts. The following night, we had our statewide leadership call and had a special guest - Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Senator Hutchison provided an update to statewide leadership as to the events going on in Washington, D.C. and even had time to answer a few questions.
The following day, RPT lawyers appeared at the redistricting trial involving the State Senate maps and Wendy Davis' district and I was actively in consultation with them throughout the day. The week drew to a close with two events - for the first event, I drove up to Milam County where I was one of the keynote speakers at the county party's annual dinner in Cameron. It was amazing to see such a strong and healthy county party in a county which is traditionally Democratic. County Chairman Bill Whitmire should be applauded for his work - they had a full slate of candidates speak to the group. The second event I had the pleasure of attending was the Fort Bend County Lincoln-Reagan Dinner in Sugar Land, with several hundred other enthusiastic Republicans. County Chairwoman Sharon Roberts emceed the event at which Star Parker spoke, as did Justice Don Willett and U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions. Congressman Sessions is the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee and gave an update on their efforts.
The next week was almost totally consumed by the redistricting lawsuit. During the trial, I traveled to San Antonio along with the RPT attorneys to attend court hearings pertaining to redistricting issues. I was supposed to spend my week traveling to Taiwan as part of a delegation from the RNC, but my trip was a casualty of the Democrats' antics. Hopefully I will someday get another opportunity, but if I don't - the results obtained by General Abbott and his team were well worth missing the trip.
After the hearings, I was able to travel to Rockwall County to speak at the Rockwall County Lincoln Day Dinner. Despite Rockwall County not being as large as many of our urban counties, they turned out a high number of attendees comparable to the number who attend some of our larger county functions - congratulations to Chairman Tony Fisk and his team. The event was packed and was particularly meaningful because my longtime friend from my days in college and the Ronald Reagan campaigns, State Representative Jodie Laubenberg, was recognized for her service. Because of redistricting, she will no longer represent many of those in attendance so it was a bittersweet moment. Everyone in attendance was appreciative of her solid, conservative record representing the area and her steadfast commitment to principle. I have known Jodie for 36 years and can personally attest to the fact that she always stands up for what she thinks is right, not expedient. I also had a chance to sit next to Congressman Ralph Hall and it is always a delight to visit with him.
The following week, I had the honor of serving as a keynote speaker for the Hopkins County Republican Party "Denim and Diamonds" Dinner at the invitation of County Chairman Donnie Wisenbaker. I purchased a coconut cake at their auction, and I am happy to report that the RPT staff gobbled it up swiftly! On Friday morning, I was invited to attend an event in Austin for Rick Santorum at the Headliner's Club. Although I have not yet decided who I will cast my vote for in the Presidential primary, I have been hoping to meet all of the candidates and was pleased to go to the event. Senator
Santorum gave a passionate speech in defense of conservatism, and afterwards, I had a chance to speak with him for a few minutes. I thanked him for paying attention to the State of Texas during his campaign, and was impressed by his genuine friendliness and knowledge of the issues. Later that morning, I traveled back to Houston to attend the funeral for Paul Bettencourt's mother, Dorothy. In addition to the touching eulogy delivered by former Harris County Tax Collector-Assessor, former treasurer of the RPT, and current RPT redistricting committee member Paul Bettencourt, I was struck by the fact that the mourners composed a Who's Who of Harris County Republican politics. It was clear that Paul's commitment and dedication to the Republican Party was instilled in him by his activist mother. Former Harris County Executive Director Jeff Yates presided over the service and his words were both comforting and inspirational to those in attendance.
The next day I traveled to Richardson to speak to the Richardson Republican Women's Annual Tea. The event was well attended by the SREC members from the area, who included Paige McAleer, Candy Noble, Tom Washington, Neal Katz, Dan Pickens, and former SREC member Chris Davis. During a month where I was a little beat up from the redistricting mess and being in court, the presence of so many good friends (and particularly the kind words of Paige in her introduction), provided some much needed support and was appreciated. Immediately following the Richardson event, I drove over to Denton County to lead the pledge of allegiance at the annual Denton County Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner. County Chairwoman Dianne Edmondson and the event chair Nancy Dillard, did an outstanding job as usual. They had approximately 800 people in attendance, which probably makes that dinner the largest Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner this year. Also during this week, we scheduled several statewide telephone conferences with the SREC and County Chairmen over the new rules (see previous report). The last day of the month was taken up with our emergency SREC meeting - please see our previous report for a recap on that event.
On the financial front, the Party paid all of its bills to zero at the end of February. That marked the sixteenth monthly report in a row where we have reported zero debt and obligations. Our usable, non-dedicated cash at the end of February was approximately $690,000. On one hand, this number is very encouraging as we have been able to maintain a healthy cash balance despite coming off of a difficult fall fundraising season where we were in competition with so many Presidential and other campaigns. On the other hand, there is cause for concern that money could get very tight in the next few months for several reasons. First, part of our cash balance is due to our membership renewals and typically the Party has more cash at the beginning of the year than at the end of the year. Second, we have legal fees resulting from the redistricting lawsuits and other legal conflicts which are draining some of our cash. In February alone, we incurred approximately $40,000 worth of legal fees. Third, and of particular concern, is having to advance money for the State Convention without registrations coming in. Normally we would have our Senatorial District Conventions at the end of March, so that the Party could normally expect to receive registration monies and sponsorships during April and May to help offset the cash drain from the convention. Because of the uncertainty over redistricting, sponsorships have been delayed and the delay in the Senatorial District Conventions by approximately a month will mean that our cash flow from the convention will be about a month behind. However, we will still be required to advance several hundred thousand dollars toward the convention. Thus it is expected over the next few months that our cash reserves will be depleted significantly and probably to their lowest levels since November 2010. Hopefully, once we get through the convention we will be able to recoup all of these costs and perhaps even make some profit which should put us in decent shape coming out of the convention - but in the meantime, things could get very tight. Therefore, if there was ever a time that any of you were thinking about giving to the Republican Party of Texas - now would be an excellent time!
Now that we are apparently having our primary on May 29th and we have new rules for our State Convention, we can turn our attention over the next three months to doing our best to accomplish both having a successful Convention and Primary season. Because we are picking delegates through a new and untried process forced upon us by the Courts, I am asking everybody to be extra patient, tolerant and cooperative as we work our way through our convention and delegate selection process. There are bound to be some problems and snafus and I hope everybody will be understanding and kind to each other during this difficult situation and especially towards the volunteers who will be struggling to help all of us pull off this massive undertaking. Hopefully I and the RPT will be out of the courts for a little while, and now we can all focus on the business at hand - which is to nominate our best candidates for office and start preparing for the November elections.
Steve Munisteri, Chairman, Republican Party of Texas
March 1, 2012
Urgent Primary Election Update
Re-Opened Filing Period Begins Friday, March 2nd
This afternoon, the San Antonio three-judge federal panel issued an order (click here to read the order in PDF format) setting a May 29th Primary Election and a related administrative calendar for the election.
Of particular importance - the order sets a re-opened filing period for the primary ballot, which will commence on Friday morning, March 2nd at 9:00am and runs through Friday, March 9th at 6:00pm.
The Republican Party of Texas will be accepting filing applications at our Austin headquarters at 1108 Lavaca, Suite 500, Austin, TX 78701, for all candidates who are required to file with the State Party instead of their county chairman.
RPT will begin accepting applications on Friday morning, March 2nd, at 9:00am and will continue until 5:00pm. The RPT office will be closed on Saturday and Sunday and we will resume taking filings on Monday morning, March 5th, at 9:00am. From Monday through Friday, applications will be accepted from the hours of 9:00am to 5:00pm, and then on Friday, March 9th, we will continue accepting applications until 6:00pm.
Candidates who filed during the prior filing period in late 2011 who still wish to seek the same office need not re-file their applications, assuming no information contained therein has subsequently been rendered inaccurate.
For more information, you may contact RPT via email at info@texasgop.org, or call at 512-477-9821.
For a listing of County Parties and contact information for your Republican County Chairman, please visit http://www.texasgop.org/county-chairmen.
We thank all of our Republican activists and volunteers for their ongoing patience and flexibility during this process over the past few weeks and months. This has been an incredibly stressful time for many candidates and volunteers around the state, and we are grateful to each of you for your dedication. The Republican Party of Texas has brought on board additional staff to help deal with the increased activity during this re-opened filing period, and with the additional costs that the redistrict lawsuit have brought to the State Party - now is a very important time to help support the work of the RPT with your donation. If you can make even a small online contribution today, it will go a long way towards helping us offset the runaway costs that the lawsuits and changes to the Primary have brought to the State Party.
UPDATED: 3:20pm - The three judge panel in San Antonio has posted new state house, state senate and Congressional maps to be used for the 2012 elections. We are presuming that an order will follow in the next day or two, which confirms that these will be the maps - along with a new scheduling order. We will keep you advised. We anticipate having an analysis of the new districts available either late this afternoon or tomorrow morning.
Open the Texas Legislative Council District Viewer link
Select Navarro County and zoom in.
Select Map Plan - Base
Select the latest Court-Ordered Interim Congressional PLAN C 235
Select the latest Court-Ordered Interim House PLAN H 309
Select the latest Court-Ordered Interim Senate PLAN S 172
County Chair Frank Steed notes: No changes to Navarro County Districts from 82nd Legislature maps passed in 2011, looks like May 29 Primary!
February 26, 2012
RPT Convention Update
SREC and County Chairs Swing Into Action
Last Wednesday's redistricting hearing in San Antonio made it clear that there would not be a Texas Primary in time for precinct conventions to be held at the same time as the primary election. Therefore, this made it an impossibility that the Republican and Democratic Parties could proceed under the provisions of the Texas Election Code relative to hosting state conventions. Upon returning to Austin from the trial that afternoon, the RPT swung into action to propose a remedy to the Court as the Court had instructed us to do.
Immediately following the Wednesday hearing, Chairman Steve Munisteri met with RPT staff to discuss all possible options regarding the convention process, in order to present alternatives to the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC). Working with the staff, the Chairman was able to determine relatively quickly that there were only a few viable alternatives. The next day on Thursday, the Chairman commenced a meeting of the RPT Officials' Committee, comprised of seven members elected from the SREC (Russ Duerstine, Josh Flynn, Rex Lamb, Jean McIver, Jason Moore, Hal Talton & Rebecca Williamson), the National Committeeman Bill Crocker and National Committeewoman Borah Van Dormolen, the General Counsel Patrick O'Daniel and Assistant General Counsel Eric Opiela, the Treasurer Tom Mechler and Assistant Treasurer Tom Washington, the Secretary Mandy Tschoepe, the Parliamentarian Butch Davis and Vice-Chairwoman Melinda Fredricks. The Chairman met with them by teleconference and went over the recommendations from the staff. In general terms, the recommended process allows for delegates to be picked directly at either a county or senatorial district convention without the necessity of precinct conventions. However, under this option, the functions of the precinct conventions are preserved - that being to allow maximum grassroots participation, presentation of resolutions, and a fair allocation of delegates.
Once the outline of a consensus plan was reached, the Chairman scheduled a statewide teleconference with the entire SREC on Friday, February 17th. The Chairman set up two calls at different times of the day so that all SREC could participate and allowed every SREC member as much time as they wished to speak. The end result was that the plan developed from the Officials' Committee was modified further so as to allow each individual county the option of attempting to hold precinct conventions if they determine it is feasible and logistically possible. It was then decided that the attorneys would be given the task of drafting proposed rules changes and they did so over the next several days. In addition to counsel for the party drafting the rules, input was obtained from Rules Committee Chairman Dan Pickens and Rules Committee member Clint Moore (who had drafted the revised national delegate selection process in the past), along with input from National Committeeman and RNC General Counsel Bill Crocker.
These rules were then distributed to every County Chairman via email on Tuesday evening, February 21st. Two separate statewide conference calls were setup on Wednesday, February 22nd, in order to obtain input from the county chairmen on the process. Based on these conference calls, along with feedback from other interested party leaders around the state, the proposed rules were tweaked further. An emergency SREC meeting has been set for next Wednesday, February 29th in Austin, to approve the proposed rules. We expect to have a draft of the proposed rules completed by early next week, and the Party will post them online via TexasGOP.org.
We have received a number of questions from around the state which we would like to address in this email.
Q: Why can't we simply have precinct conventions as normal?
A: The Republican Party of Texas has approximately 5500 precincts where we have precinct chairmen, and thousands more where we don't. Normally, precinct conventions are held where the primary is conducted, thereby affording the opportunity for a meeting space that doesn't cost the county parties any additional funds. Moreover, voters can easily identify where the location is, and if there is no precinct chairman - Republicans can still show up at the conclusion of voting and obtain a precinct convention packet from the election judge and conduct the precinct convention. Without a primary, it will not be practical for many counties to be able to locate sites for all their precinct conventions, and/or to bear the expense - a task made even more difficult in precincts without chairmen. Therefore, under the rules, counties would be given the option of either attempting to conduct precinct conventions, or if they can't, to proceed directly to county or senatorial conventions (as the case may be).
Q: Will the elimination of precinct conventions reduce grassroots involvement?
A: Under the proposed rules, we believe that there is a chance to actually increase grassroots involvement. This is because every registered voter who takes an oath of affiliation to the Republican Party will be allowed to attend their district conventions. Arguably, this allows more grassroots participation because under the existing system which starts with precinct conventions, a certain percentage of precinct convention attendees are not eligible to participate in a county / district convention. Under the proposed rules, everyone would be able to participate.
Q: Will people be able to propose resolutions as they normally do at a precinct convention?
A: Everyone will be able to have the same opportunity to propose any resolution at the district convention, that they normally would at a precinct convention.
Q: Why can't RPT simply move the State Convention?
A: There are many reasons. First, if we move the State Convention - to what date would we move it? As it is, there is no guarantee Texas would have a primary in time to allow precinct conventions on any date that we pick for the State Convention. The reason for this is that we have to have our State Convention in time to submit our delegate lists to the National Convention, 35 days before the National Convention starts. This means that we would have to conclude a State Convention no later than July 23. If, for example, Texas has a June 26th primary, there would not be enough time to follow the Election Code (which prescribes for precinct conventions and district conventions three weeks later) and then have enough time to process all the delegates. Consequently, under some scenarios, even moving the State Convention could not preserve the existing process. Second, where would the State Convention be held if moved? There are only four convention sites in Texas that can accommodate the number of participants that we expect at this year's event. Moreover, it is necessary to block out thousands of hotel rooms in order to accommodate the vast majority of delegates and alternates who come in from out of town. These facilities and hotels have to be reserved and contracted for well in advance of the convention. For example, this year's convention site in Fort Worth was decided upon 6 years ago, and we signed hotel contracts last year. Finally, there would be significant financial penalties to both parties if the conventions are moved. With all these considerations in mind, both political parties testified to the Court that it is simply not feasible to move State Conventions.
We hope that this email has provided you with not only a status report on where we are relative to the convention process, but also answers some questions about why the RPT is proceeding in the way that we are. If any of you have any additional questions, please feel free to email them to us via the TexasGOP.org website, and we'll get back to you as best as we can.
February 24, 2012
Redistricting Update XI: It Is All Up To The Courts
The fate of the redistricting maps now rests solely with the three-judge panel in San Antonio. As of the time of this update, a global agreement between all parties has not been reached relative to the Texas House and Texas Congressional districts. Therefore, the final decisions as to where the lines will be are in the hands of the three-judge panel. The panel set deadlines for parties to submit final briefs on various issues and that deadline has now passed. This now means that all the arguments are over and all we are waiting for now is for the Court to rule.
If the Court issues maps on or before March 3rd, then the May 29th primary date can be accomplished - assuming a re-opened filing period can be accomplished within a few days. If the Court issues new maps after March 3rd, then the next and final available primary date would be June 26th. To accomplish a June 26th primary, maps would still need to be issued by March 30th to meet the June 26th date.
There is a possibility that the San Antonio three-judge panel (which handles Section 2 challenges of the Voting Rights Act) will wait to see what the Washington D.C. three-judge panel (who handles Section 5 challenges of the Voting Rights Act) rules, and that subsequently, the San Antonio panel incorporates the D.C. panel’s findings into new maps. The D.C. panel indicated that it would not rule prior to March. Consequently, if the San Antonio panel is waiting on the D.C. panel, a May 29th primary could only be accomplished if the D.C. panel rules at the very start of March and the rulings can be incorporated into alterations of the maps within a few days. Otherwise, only the June 26th primary date is an option.
If the San Antonio three-judge panel does not view it as a necessity to wait on the Washington D.C. panel, then we would expect to get new maps any day now.
As instructed by the San Antonio three-judge panel last week, the RPT’s attorneys have been in contact with the Texas Democratic Party's attorneys to negotiate over proposed deadlines relative to a May 29th Primary Election and we are proceeding to plan as if we will have a May 29th Primary. RPT will provide you notice of any rulings as soon as practical.
February 15, 2012
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Urgent Redistricting Update X: Primary Moved Again
This afternoon, the San Antonio three-judge panel indicated that the April unified primary election will be postponed and that it was probable (but not a certainty) that the new primary date will be May 29th. As previously reported, on Tuesday, county clerks and elections administrators testified that they need 88 days of lead time to prepare for a primary election from the date that new district maps are issued. Today at the hearing, the Texas Secretary of State's office indicated that this timeline could be shrunk to 77 days and reduced even further if military ballots were accepted for a short period of time after the primary. Consequently, new maps need to be in place sometime between early and mid-March in order to maintain the May 29th primary date. Chairman Munisteri discussed with the Court the problems a May 29th primary creates for the party's delegate selection process for the RPT State Convention. He reiterated that it is impossible to comply with the current Texas Election Code as it pertains to delegate selection, with the primary on May 29th and the State Convention in the first week of June. He strongly urged the Court to issue an order that would allow the State Republican Executive Committee to adopt a new delegate selection process which varies from the Election Code. He told the court that if there is sufficient time for planning, that in consultation with party leadership, he had several different options in mind which: would allow district conventions to still occur on schedule, allow for a May 29th primary, and still allow for a convention the next week. In general terms, he suggested different options which would completely de-couple the selection of delegates to the State Convention from the primary election. The Court indicated it was very likely that they would grant such a request from the State Party, provided it received U.S. Department of Justice pre-clearance. Chairman Munisteri made the case that DOJ pre-clearance is not required in a case where the changes are made as a result of court order. However, the Court indicated that they thought it was a safer route to obtain pre-clearance. A Department of Justice attorney testified that his office would expedite such a request and anticipated that the approval time could be reduced from a couple of months to a couple of weeks, thereby allowing the change to occur. The Court instructed both political parties to consult on a new schedule for a May 29th primary. It also invited the state parties to put forth separate proposals as to how they would select delegates and conduct their conventions. Chairman Munisteri is hoping to hold a telephone conference with members of the Republican Party of Texas Officials Committee tomorrow to go over various options. He plans within the next few days, to have a separate telephone conference with the entire SREC to go over recommendations from the Officials Committee. It is his hope that a consensus plan can be agreed upon by the SREC. If this is accomplished, he will distribute this plan to all County Chairmen to obtain their input, and then once a final plan is agreed upon - to propose the plan to the three-judge panel in San Antonio. It is the Chairman's goal to develop a process around existing Senatorial and County conventions so as to minimize inconvenience and logistical problems. It remains his objective to keep the State Republican Convention scheduled as planned during the first week of June. We will provide further information over the next few days as to developments in this regard. Also on Wednesday - Chairman Munisteri, RPT lawyers and staff spent another day in the courtroom listening to final arguments in the redistricting case. It appears as though there is an agreement between the Attorney General and the Democrats on a new Texas State Senate map. As soon as we have full details, we will provide them to you - but it is expected that the final lines will make it possible for a Republican to win the district in controversy, SD 10, although not a certainty. At the time the hearing concluded, General Abbott's team had not reached agreement with all the plaintiffs on all districts pertaining to the Texas House map. With one set of plaintiffs, there is still a battle over Republican districts HD 144 (currently held by Ken Legler), HD 117 (currently held by John Garza) and HD 81 (currently held by Tryon Lewis). Another set of plaintiffs wanted to change the lines of another 30 districts on the State House map in an even larger grab for seats. With regards to the Congressional districts (discussion of which took up most of the day) the prime battleground appears to be over CD 33, 25, 23, 35 and 27. Of particular concern to the Republican Party of Texas is CD23, which is represented by Congressman Quico Canseco. General Abbott's map is roughly equivalent to how that district was configured before redistricting, while the Democrats are pushing for an increase of Democrat voters there. There was also a big argument with the Democrats over CD 25, currently represented by Lloyd Doggett. Travis County and other Democratic plaintiffs are arguing that the district should not be converted to a Republican district, since in their opinion the district is protected under the Voting Rights Act - General Abbott's team disputes this. There are also several different proposals regarding Congressional District 33 in Arlington. Additionally, Congressman Joe Barton's legal team (led by former State Representative Joe Nixon) argues that the configuration of that district in the Attorney General's compromise proposal is not allowable under current legal standard. At the end of the hearing today, there was also no agreement on the Texas Congressional map. Chairman Munisteri issued the following statement regarding today's proceedings. "I am disappointed that the San Antonio three-judge panel again delayed the Texas Primary Election. The Secretary of State's witness today indicated that if the panel would issue maps within the next few days - that an April 24th primary could still be accomplished. However, now that it is apparent that April is out, the RPT will continue to fight to oppose any further slippage in the primary schedule. We will work hard with our Party leadership to come up with a plan to preserve our State convention." At this juncture, it appears that there will not be an agreement between all parties regarding all districts. Therefore, at this time, it appears that the three-judge panel will have to decide where the final lines are for the Texas House and Congressional districts. Special Advisory to all Republican county chairmen, precinct chairmen, and party activists from Chairman Munisteri - I am hopeful that the SREC will come up with a plan for the three-judge panel that will still allow district conventions on the date scheduled. Therefore it is our advice that you not cancel your plans to go forward with district conventions until otherwise instructed. I am hopeful that within the next week or so, that we will have a telephone conference with all county chairs to provide them more information on any proposed plans. The RPT is committed to working with each of you to come up with a workable solution to this unprecedented challenge. Thank you again for your patience and hard work.
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MEMORANDUM
TO: ALL ELECTION OFFICIALS
FROM: KEITH INGRAM, DIRECTOR OF ELECTIONS, TEXAS SECRETARY OF STATE OFFICE
DATE: FEBRUARY 15, 2012
RE: REDISTRICTING LITIGATION
This afternoon the U.S. District Court in San Antonio concluded a two day status hearing regarding continuing litigation over redistricting and the drawing of interim maps.
At the close of the hearing the Court instructed the Democratic and Republican parties to work with the Secretary of State’s office on a scheduling order with the target of a May 29, 2012 primary. That date is not yet set, but it is the date which the Court would like for everyone to work towards.
We will keep you updated as events warrant.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Elections Division toll-free at 1-800-252-2216.
KI:EHW
February 14, 2012
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Redistricting Update IX: Valentine's Day Hearing Update
Today in San Antonio, the three-judge panel began a full day of hearing final arguments in the Texas redistricting case, which affects the scheduling of the state primary and state convention. We can report that the Court appears to be backing off of its stated intention to have a unified April Primary Election. This comes after assorted county election officials stepped forward to testify that it would be impossible to hold a unified April Primary Election - even if they had maps today. Although the Republican Party of Texas had Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart appear before the panel to testify that an April 24th primary election is still doable, our sense is the Court now believes that April is no longer viable for a single unified primary. From the Court's questioning, it seemed that at least one judge and possibly two would prefer to go ahead with a Presidential primary and statewide races in April and the other races at a date to be determined in the future. How the extra primary election would be funded appears problematic at this time. We won't know until the Court rules whether these conclusions are correct. Our best estimate right now is that there will be a single unified primary on May 29th, absent the state coming up with funds for a split primary. Because the Texas Democratic Party's lawyers backed up Chairman Munisteri's testimony at the hearing that it is practically not possible to move the State Conventions at this late date, one thing we know for sure (and the Court is aware of this fact), is that you can't schedule the primary after the State Conventions unless (as the Democratic lawyer stated) the State Parties can find a field somewhere to hold their conventions and if we could guarantee good weather. Chairman Munisteri testified to the Court that it would be impossible to select delegates in accordance with the process prescribed in the Election Code, if the primary was not held until May 29th and the state convention began on June 7th. However, the Court signaled that it would be open to judicial relief to allow the State Parties to select their delegates in a way that didn't require precinct conventions to be tied to the primary. The Texas Democratic Party lawyer went a step further and argued that even though the Election Code prescribes the process, that it is their position that the Election Code is unenforceable because the political parties are private organizations and thus they could change their rules without a court order. The RPT believes it would be risky to do so and prefers the route of obtaining judicial permission prior to such action. In the event the Court schedules a May primary, Chairman Munisteri plans to schedule an emergency teleconference with all SREC members and Republican County Chairs to discuss alternative processes for picking State Convention delegates, in the hopes of coming to a consensus as to what to suggest to the court for relief. The court also heard presentations from several plaintiffs and the State of Texas as to their position relative to how maps should be drawn. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court directed the three-judge panel to issue new maps that were neither the legislative-drawn lines, nor the subsequent lines issued by the San Antonio three-judge panel in November. In issuing that directive, the Supreme Court set forth the criteria by which lines could be altered. Specifically, the Supreme Court said that if the San Antonio panel found there was a "not insubstantial" chance of violation of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, that lines could be altered to comply with Section 5. A Washington, D.C. three-judge federal panel has had a trial on Section 5 so as to make a final determination as to violations, but the Supreme Court indicated that the San Antonio three-judge federal panel should issue interim maps which correct any deficiencies in districts in which the "not insubstantial" standard was met. Moreover, the San Antonio three-judge panel has jurisdiction over Section 2 violations of the Voting Rights Act and the Supreme Court indicated that if there were violations of this provision, that lines could be altered as well. In recent orders, the San Antonio three-judge panel had directed the plaintiffs and the State of Texas (representing the legislative maps) to see if they could agree which districts fell under these criteria and suggest fixes. Last week, the Attorney General put forth a proposed set of maps which addressed potentially problematic districts while at the same time, tried to stay as close to the original legislative maps as possible. Some of the plaintiffs' groups agreed to some of the proposed lines. The hearing today flushed out the differences, with each party stating their differences and arguments thereof. The Attorney General's proposals put forth what it believes are 50 Texas State House districts which have an opportunity for minorities to elect their candidates of choice - a number which meets the benchmark (2010) plan's number of 50 such districts. Some of the plaintiffs' groups however, want 51 or more of these districts, and a much larger number of "coalition" districts, which would likely elect Democrats, but would not have a majority of their citizen voting age population be comprised of a single minority group. Another group of plaintiffs which opposes the suggested lines put forth by the Attorney General, was arguing for 67 majority-minority districts in the State House. In effect, their proposed maps would substantially reduce the number of Republican legislators. The Latino Redistricting Task Force, which represents a number of the Latino groups, has indicated that they would not object to much of the proposed map, but they disagree over House District 144 (currently represented by Representative Ken Legler). The Attorney General's map draws that district with 48% registered voters with Spanish surnames. The Latino Redistricting Task Force would not accept any lines for HD 144 that do not have at least 50% of registration of Spanish surnames. That particular plaintiffs' group was also willing to accept the proposed Congressional maps which would split the four new Congressional districts into lines which would result in two new Republican districts - an improvement over the three-judge panel's maps but which is down one from the maps originally drawn by the Legislature. Many of the other plaintiffs' groups opposed the proposed Congressional map and wanted at least one more Democratic Congressional district in addition to the two new Democratic districts contained in the Attorney General's map. Congressman Joe Barton has intervened, and is arguing for one more Republican district. The State Senate map has really only one district in dispute - that being Senate District 10, the district held by State Senator Wendy Davis. Apparently the Attorney General and the plaintiff Democrats are not that far apart in respect to their proposals. Under virtually every anticipated scenario, at the very least that senate district would be winnable by a Republican candidate. The final battle over the lines will determine whether it is a toss-up district, or one where the Republicans will have a slight advantage. To complicate things further, the Department of Justice sent a lawyer who argued that there were five Texas House districts on the previously-drawn legislative map, which the Department of Justice is insisting be changed because of violations to the Voting Rights Act. The DOJ lawyer also stated emphatically that the federal court panel has limited authority to alter deadlines that were controlled by federal statute. At this time, it seems more likely than not, that all the parties will not come to an agreement on the Congressional and Texas House maps. Therefore, we are assuming that once the hearing is concluded tomorrow (Wednesday, Feb. 15) that the final map lines will be decided by the three-judge panel as opposed to the parties in the lawsuit. To add another wrinkle, one of the judges suggested that if the primary will have to be delayed until May anyway - that the San Antonio three-judge panel may delay their decision for at least a while to see if they get a ruling out of the Washington D.C. three-judge panel regarding potential Section 5 violations so that they can incorporate the decision into their deliberations. After attending in full and testifying at the hearing, Chairman Munisteri issued the following statement - "It is the Republican Party of Texas' position that a single unified primary is still possible for April. If the Court delays the primary further, it will be a great disappointment to Republicans who wish to have early participation in the Presidential primary process. I would like to applaud the work of General Abbott's Deputy Attorney General for Defense Litigation, David Mattax, who I thought did an excellent job refuting the Democrats' contention that Republicans intentionally discriminated against minorities, as well as providing excellent rebuttal district by district to the plaintiffs' attorneys contention that more districts needed to have their lines altered with the intent of creating additional Democratic districts." The hearing will continue tomorrow, but is expected to conclude by 2:30pm. We should know tomorrow for certain, whether we have a split primary or a unified primary. We should also know whether April is definitely out. We hopefully will have some guidance as to what flexibility the parties will have in altering the delegate selection process. We will provide a further report after tomorrow's hearing. Advisory to all Republican county chairmen, precinct chairmen, and party activists - In the event that the primary is pushed back further, the RPT will still seek court relief to allow district conventions to go forward on the dates you already have scheduled but with the different delegate selection process. Consequently, at this time - we urge you not to cancel your district conventions as they still may occur on the same day. We anticipate having a conference call with the SREC in the next week to discuss the situation and examine options together. Thank you for your understanding and patience in this difficult situation.
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February 10, 2012
Redistricting Update VIII: Court Wants April Primary
"It is the Court's desire to have redistricting plans in place for an April Primary"
On Friday afternoon, the San Antonio three-judge panel issued an order which clearly indicates that the Court wishes for both sides in the redistricting lawsuit to assist in resolving all of the issues in time for an April primary election.
The Court also clarified some misconceptions that have appeared on blogs and among the media - specifically, reports which have stated that the Court had rejected Attorney General Greg Abbott's proposed maps earlier this week. The order clearly states that the panel has not rejected any maps. The Court also noted that final interim maps would be drawn in accordance with the Supreme Court's recent ruling - "...which include the rather flexible standards of review that may be applied on one hand and the restrictive language regarding the creation of new coalition districts on the other hand." The RPT interprets this to mean that the Court is signaling to both the State of Texas (represented by General Abbott) and the various plaintiffs' groups, that it may be in the best interests of both sides to reach an agreement since utilizing these criteria would mean that probably neither side would get completely what it wanted anyway.
The "flexible standards" referenced by the Court, indicates that they still have the ability to alter the legislative maps and still comply with the Supreme Court ruling (which is to the Democrats' advantage). On the other hand, the Court notes that the Supreme Court struck down the Democratic proposition that new coalition minority districts should be created (which favors the legislature's version of the maps). The Court issued additional orders requiring all sides to continue negotiations and to be prepared to discuss them at the hearing in San Antonio on February 14th and 15th.
Advisory to all Republican county chairmen, precinct chairmen, and party activists - As the Party believes that this order increases the likelihood of a primary in April (probably in mid to late April, we urge everyone to continue to make preliminary plans for a primary around April 17th. The odds of this happening will become much clearer by mid-week.