PUBLic Input hearings

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Testimony guides

Spring 2019

Members of the Fair Maps Texas Coalition, along with partnering organizations, communicated with the House Redistricting Committee in regards to the location and organization of public input hearings that are to be held before the next round of redistricting in 2021. We were deeply concerned that some of the same mistakes that were made during the 2011 Field Hearings were being made once again.

Some of the concerns discussed in these letters were also cited as shortcomings of the 2011 redistricting effort by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez during the recent hearing in which the Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas reviewed evidence for the bail-in provision of Section 3 of the Voting Rights Act. Judge Rodriguez asked if the Attorney General’s office could guarantee that Republican lawmakers will not repeat abuses the court had criticized in the 2011 redistricting effort, such as, “hearings in hard-to-find locations with little notice” and “no maps visible for the public.”

Fair Maps Texas would like to make these letters available for everyone to review.

Senate Committee's Hearing Schedule

3/25/20 & 26 San Antonio

4/22/20 Tyler

5/6/20 El Paso

5/20/20 Austin

5/21/20 Georgetown area

6/17/20 & 18 Houston

7/15/20 Midland

7/16/20 Lubbock

9/16/20 Dallas

9/17/20 Denton

10/14/20 Weslaco

10/15/20 Laredo

12/2/20 Austin

Testimony guides

Guide to Communities of Interest and Nonpartisan Criteria

by League of Women Voters of Texas

Committee Guidelines That We Want Enacted

for an Honest and Open Process

by Texas Civil Rights Project

Click here for House Committee hearing schedule

In response to the letters that we sent to the House Redistricting Committee (found below), the Committee decided to double the number of public input hearings from 14 to 28, agreed to post notice of the hearings 30 days in advance, and agreed to post hearing notices in both English in Spanish. Fair Maps Texas is now requesting your help notifying the public and other community groups about these hearings.