GOVERNMENT

by Ann Marie Kennon

annmarie@wilcobr.com

Passing the State Map

GOVERNMENT

Now that Governor Abbott has signed the 2020 Census Redistricting Maps into law, the state can move forward to a March 1 primary election. The Wilco Business Review sat down with Texas District 20 Representative Colonel Terry Wilson (U.S. Army-Retired) to talk about Why, How, and the process when House district boundaries are re-drawn.

Rep. Wilson begins; “This is a process the House goes through every ten years. When the decennial United States census takes place, we receive an exact count of citizens in our state and where they live."

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 due to commercial or industrial expansion, or both, and those changes require the application of other Constitutional rules.

IDEAL OR CLOSE ENOUGH

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.” (See graphic, next page.)

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.”*

CONSTITUTIONAL RULES

A primary consideration in new House boundaries is the County Line Rule.  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.  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.

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 it stands, House District 20 no longer includes parts of Burnet or Milam Counties. As of the 2022 election, District 20 will be wholly within Williamson County, and Rep. Wilson says he looks forward to continue serving the District.

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.

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.”

He adds, “As Texas grows in certain places, it becomes more difficult to make the voting districts even while still keeping counties together. We are also prohibited from looking at racial makeup when drawing boundaries. That is why some of the district lines are irregularly shaped."

He cites Hayes and Blanco Counties, and Harris County (Houston) as two distinct examples. Larger counties are more able to create equal districts without splitting votes with another; Harris County has 24 complete districts. With so many residents, it is possible to move boundaries within the 

GOVERNMENT

*WHAT IS IDEAL AND CLOSE ENOUGH?

The official U.S. Census counted 29,145,505 Texas residents. With 150 House seats, the exact average per district would be 194,303. To adjust for other factors, the House is allowed to create districts 184,588 and 204,018 citizens. Rep. Wilson explained, within these limits, there is no wiggle room. One Representative submitted a map with two extra people in it and the map was rejected.

same county while keeping population counts within that ten percent margin.

Conversely, in 2010, Hayes and Blanco Counties were both smaller than the ideal number but, together, they fell within the 95-105 percent range. Those two counties whole, with no breaks, used to be House district 45. After ten years of growth, however, Hays County now has enough population to make one complete district, plus one-quarter of an ideal district left over to join another multi-county district.

WILLIAMSON COUNTY

Rep. Wilson says, despite some objections based on gerrymandering in the State, this was not an issue in Williamson County. "Williamson County is very diffuse and diverse. The data show that, as a county, we are very evenly spread by age and race. We are also diffused very well across the county, with a lot of mixing of various groups. There is no singular place where either of those things are a potential issue."

He adds the challenge to keep County voter precincts the same was nearly impossible due to growth, which outpaced the growth of the state. "We tried to only create breaks in those places that would have to break anyway; moving a voting precinct from one district to another can be as many as 10,000 votes."

THE SPECIAL SESSION

Following the Constitution, House Representatives must vote on new maps by the end of the regular session. Due to the late release of census data, they could only work with data as it arrived in waves. Rep. Wilson says, "At first, we received the state count and learned how many U.S. Congress Representatives we would have. The detailed data was released after we had gaveled out, so the governor convened a special session to complete the work.

He adds, "There are contingencies if the legislature doesn’t agree on a map, but we did agree and we did pass the bill in a special session and we will continue to do it every ten years. Now we know what the one person-one vote will be and that's a great thing for Williamson County."

WHY IT MATTERS

STATE DISTRICT A HAS 300,000 CITIZENS

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.

GOVERNMENT

Approving the County Maps

As the State approved its redistricting maps, Williamson County Commissioners Court was able to complete a new redistricting map for Justices of the Peace, Constables, and Commissioners precincts. Following state law, Counties are also required to review the new census data every ten years to ensure their populations are also evenly distributed. Precincts are drawn only according to civilian numbers, and do not take into account the number of registered voters in each.

Precinct 3 Valerie Covey explained the changes in precinct assignments, “In the past decade, Williamson County’s growth (44%) has been predominately focused on the west side of the county. Precincts two and three were over the population target while precincts one and four needed more residents to make the precincts as even as possible."

PANDEMIC MATTERS

Due to delays in the U.S. Census Bureau's release of 2020 data to the states, the timeline for completing the state maps was truncated, causing a ripple effect to the local levels. When Governor Abbott signed the four state maps into law October 25th, the County was left with a compressed timeline to discuss and finalize proposed changes.

Williamson County Republican Party Chair Steve Armbruster explained, “This process is always a very challenging time for the politicians. Normally, the census numbers are provided in the Spring and Commissioners have months to adjust to changes in population. This year, prior to the State vote, they had many data points but had to wait to see where the new State lines would be. With a lot of hard work, they were able to complete the work in just two weeks, and allowed a full week of public 

STATE DISTRICT B HAS 50,000 RESIDENTS

Each time their Representative goes to the floor, he or she casts the same vote, but with fewer citizens, each resident has 1/50,000th of the compressed impact. While that number still seems small, it carries six times the weight of a District A voter.

GOVERNMENT

comment. At the end of the day, they met the deadline and the maps were done well.”

County Judge Bill Gravell commented that public feedback was largely positive as well. “The public was encouraged to comment on the proposed map at Wilco.org; 102 people supported it, 24 opposed it, and 13 had questions. I am pleased to say, no elected officials were ‘kidnapped’ or drawn out of their current precinct. I believe this process was incredibly fair, given the time constraints to complete the work.”

NEW BOUNDARIES

Precinct lines at the county level may appear to be irregularly shaped. However, with an overlay of the four statewide maps, they are in close alignment with House, Senate, and Federal boundaries. All maps combine to ensure citizen counts are evenly distributed and in alignment with census blocks.

Changes in Williamson County start with the U.S. Congress. While, previously, the county was wholly within Congressional District 31, it is now divided—in different measures—among four members of Congress. This means Williamson County will have four voices on the Hill rather than three; i.e., business owners can potentially take concerns to one Representative in their home district, and another where their businesses are located. As well, having 100 percent of House District 20 will allow Representative Wilson to prioritize Williamson County concerns at the State level.

Armbruster adds, “Our current representatives are doing a great job at the Capitol, but if our business community can get two Senators and four Congressmen all working on the same issues for Central Texas, it will be easier for them to get concerns addressed and problems solved.”

At the state level, there are two Senators and two State Board of Education representatives rather than one, again, doubling the county’s voice in their respective houses. Combined, these represent significant increase in legislative impact.

Another important consideration, with so many new businesses expanding in or coming to Williamson County, is irregular voter precinct lines that must wrap around or between large commercial sites; e.g., Dell Diamond or 1890 Ranch Cedar Park, that occupy a great deal of acreage, but contain no voters. As well, Precinct 1, which includes parts of Round Rock and Austin, has more people in the new map than other precincts because it is largely built-out; i.e., without vacant land, clearly visible in other precincts, and not much room for future growth.

NEXT STEPS

Having drawn precinct maps to line up with State lines, Commissioners are preparing to complete voter precinct maps and, again, prevent vagaries between the newly-approved boundaries. Williamson County will be adding approximately 40 new voter precincts and, to meet deadlines associated with the March 1, 2022, primary election, commissioners must approve changes to election precincts no later than December 30th. Ballots for 2022 will be created based on voter residence as of January 1, 2022.

KEY TAKEAWAY

While the process and changes may seem overwhelming, residents need not be concerned about researching new information. All registered voters will receive notification in the mail from the Williamson County Elections Department regarding changes in their voting districts and precincts. Armbruster says, “Everyone will receive a new voter registration card in the mail. I encourage everyone to pay close attention for new information; which are your representatives in Congress, Commissioners, etc., and drilling down to your Voter Precinct Representative.”

Nothing has changed with regard to where people vote.

All voters still have the opportunity to vote at any polling place in the county. ~Steve Armbruster

THE 2020 U.S. CENSUS SHOWED WILLIAMSON COUNTY’S POPULATION TO BE 609,017. THE REQUIREMENT FOR REDISTRICTING IS TO ALLOCATE 25 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION IN EACH OF THE COUNTY’S FOUR PRECINCTS WITH THE SAME "IDEAL" TARGET OF 152,254, PLUS OR MINUS 5 PERCENT (7,613 PEOPLE).