Texas State Redistricting/Gerrymandering Case Dismissed By U.S. Supreme Court

While the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether extreme instances of gerrymandering in a number of states could be deemed unconstitutional, Texas is surprisingly not included in that list. We say “surprisingly” because in court filings the Texas State Attorney General, Greg Abbott, admitted that the Republican-controlled state legislature had indeed practiced gerrymandering when redistricting Texas.

What set the stage for this admission was a lawsuit intending to force Texas voting to be placed under federal supervision following a federal court finding that the state had engaged in intentional race discrimination through the drawing of its voters’ district lines. A provision of the Voting Rights Act allows states that engage in racial discrimination to be subject to federal supervision before they can enact new voting laws. Texas was attempting to defend itself against this legal battle to force the state to submit to federal oversight by saying they weren’t engaged in racially-motivated gerrymandering — they were merely trying to increase chances that Republicans will win elections.

It appears that the Supreme Court declined to address Texas’ gerrymandering issues, largely because Democrats had not appealed final orders from the state courts as of yet. 

However, Texas redistricting may not be completely out of the woods. If the state courts do not give the Democrats satisfaction, they might yet repetition the Supreme Court. Also, determinations that the Supreme Court might make in the other states’ cases regarding their gerrymandering issues could easily set precedent that establishes very specifically that gerrymandering for partisan advantage is unconstitutional. If that happens, then Texas Republicans may find their district lines set by a more independent, Federal authority.

Frankly, it seems astonishing that the Texas GOP legislators would perform such blatant gerrymandering, since it obviously calls into question any sense of fairness, ethical behavior, and integrity.

Interesting days are ahead. While statistics indicate that the State of Texas continues to have a very high percentage of conservatives and Republicans, the demographics of the major population centers has been trending in the direction of Democrats. It seems likely that more equitable district maps are destined for the state in the future, and more Democrat representation in state offices may be the result.

We foresee that machines are likely to handle the drawing of district borders as the nation moves towards the future. Math and logic may pave the path towards more objective line-drawing. Humans are prone towards bias — this is one area where software really should be employed to reduce such biases.