government
by Ann Marie Kennon • annmarie@georgetownview.com
Passing the State Map
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CONSTITUTIONAL RULES
ow that Governor Abbott has signed the 2020 Census Redistricting Maps into law, the state can move forward to a March 1 primary election. The Georgetown View sat down with Texas District 20 Representative Colonel Terry Wilson (US Army-Retired) to talk about why, how, and the process when House district boundaries are re-drawn.
A primary consideration in new House boundaries is the County Line Rule.
Rep. Wilson begins, “This is a process the Legislature goes through every ten years. When the decennial census takes place, we receive an exact count of the citizens in our state, and where they live."
Any county with a population smaller than one ideal district must be kept whole and combined with one or more contiguous counties to form a single district. Representatives must make every effort to keep counties whole to prevent gerrymandering.
The Texas Constitution mandates that the Legislature draw boundaries to ensure the general—not voter—population of all State House voting districts is as close to equal as possible. The simple math divides the total population of the state by the number of House seats. The complicated math becomes necessary when population blocks grow or shift, or both, and those changes require the application of other Constitutional rules.
IDEAL OR CLOSE ENOUGH
The Constitution allows that any county with sufficient population for exactly one district (plus or minus 5 percent) must be formed into a single district. The lines cannot be drawn to include any amount of land of another county.
In the 2020 census, Williamson County showed sufficient population for three full districts. "With just 10,000 more residents," the Colonel says, "we would have had to create a fourth district that grabbed some of Williamson County and other counties added together." As a result, House District 20 no longer includes parts of Burnet or Milam Counties. Rep. Wilson's representation is wholly within Williamson County, and he is moving his residence to Georgetown to continue serving the district.
Rep. Wilson says, "The key to the process—the core principle underlying everything we do—is that we will follow the Texas Constitution and ensure it all comes down to one person-one vote. Every person who goes to the ballot box should have an equal impact.”*
The County Line Rule was broken this year only in the case of Cameron County, which was broken into two districts. This exception was granted for the purpose of preserving minority opportunity districts; i.e., at least a 50 percent minority voting-age population.
Through the years, with massive growth and competing government principles, the courts determined that exceptions would be necessary and allowed that, while still striving for equal numbers, district populations may fall within a 10 percent margin; i.e., they must be “close enough” with a minimum of 95 percent and maximum of 105 percent of the “ideal district.”**
While the County Line Rule is a rigid regulation in the State House, it is more of a preferred guideline in the Senate, where the districts are much larger. Rep. Wilson says, "It is not a law and a claimant may not take a Senate map to court just for breaking a county line."
*WHY IT MATTERS
DISTRICT A HAS 300,000 RESIDENTS.
Because a Representative represents all the people in a district, his or her single vote in the State House is a compression of the will of 300,000 people. As such, every time a delegate casts a vote, each voter has 1/300,000th of the vote’s impact on the floor.
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DECE MBER 20 21 GEO R GE TO W N V I EW
