Harris County Commissioners Court approved an order this morning splitting 12 voting precincts into 27 to comply with interim redistricting maps produced by federal courts in San Antonio and Houston. Some of the slices produced humorous results.
Only one of the 12 voting precincts was affected by the local lawsuit, which Latino activists filed against the county in August, alleging its adopted redistricting map diluted Hispanic voting power in the southeast commissioner precinct, Precinct 2. The suit is ongoing.
The other 11 precincts affected were carved up by the lines a federal court ordered as part of a lawsuit filed against the redistricting plan the Legislature produced earlier this year.
Today’s order does not adjust the boundary lines of the commissioners’ precincts themselves, only the administrative lines of the voting precincts within them. The voting precinct boundaries must comply with the district and precinct boundaries the courts handed down.
The Department of Justice now must approve the changes (officials expect easy approval, since all of the changes were court-ordered).
Full Article: Can a Wendy’s register to vote? | Houston Politics | a Chron.com blog.
