Redistricting in Texas

Texas House of Representatives districts, Texas Senate districts, Texas Board of Education districts, and Texas's congressional districts are redistricted once every decade, usually in the year after the decennial United States census. According to the Texas Constitution, redistricting in Texas follows the regular legislative process; it must be passed by both houses of the Texas Legislature and signed by the governor of Texas—unless the legislature has sufficient votes to override a gubernatorial veto. Like many other states in the American South after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, federal judges and the United States Supreme Court have struck down Texas's congressional and legislative districts on multiple occasions, including in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

The most recent redistricting occurred in October 2021, when Republican governor Greg Abbott signed maps passed by the Republican-controlled legislature for the 2022–2031 decade. Many have criticized the maps that passed as racial and partisan gerrymanders designed to keep Republicans in power and reduce the voting power of minorities.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

  1. ^ Li, Michael; Boland, Julia (December 7, 2021). "Anatomy of the Texas Gerrymander". www.brennancenter.org. Brennan Center for Justice. Archived from the original on February 8, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  2. ^ Rodriguez, Jessica (July 25, 2022). "SMU team generated 1.5M district maps, but none were as gerrymandered as Texas' pick". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
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