Lucio Vasquez/Houston Public Media
After a heated assembly Tuesday that included booing from the gang and about an hour of public remark, the Fort Bend County Commissioners Courtroom remained in a impasse over redrawing its voter precincts.
The controversy began after state Rep. Matt Morgan, a Republican, wrote a February letter to commissioners courtroom, saying about one-fifth of the Houston-area county’s voter precincts don’t meet the inhabitants necessities underneath Texas regulation. An analogous challenge has been enjoying out within the Fort Value space as Tarrant County Republicans push for redistricting.
Fort Bend County Elections Administrator John Oldham, who stated he spent greater than 30 hours engaged on a brand new map over the Memorial Day weekend, questioned the necessity for redrawing voter precincts, which have been final established in 2021. Commissioners requested him to current them once more at their assembly in two weeks and proceed his evaluate of voter precincts.
Fort Bend County permits voters to forged their ballots at any polling location, no matter their precinct. Nevertheless, redrawing voter precincts may change the variety of polling places within the county. It may additionally end in some redistricting that may change which native officers symbolize residents in these precincts.
“In my thoughts, it doesn’t assist with the election course of,” Oldham informed commissioners Tuesday. “Folks can vote wherever, and we have been doing that for 10 years, and folks like that.”
Partisan pursuits
Native and state Republicans are pushing for extra substantial redistricting when rebalancing the voter precincts’ populations. In the meantime, Democrats have stated a extra concerned redrawing of the county’s maps is pointless.
Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers, a Republican, is alleging that the county’s present map was illegally primarily based on race.
Whereas the county’s elections administrator introduced a brand new map to stability the voter precincts by inhabitants, Meyers additionally employed an out of doors regulation agency to draft three new maps. Through the 2021 redistricting course of, Meyers’ residence on the time was moved out of the world he represents.
“An important factor at this second, from my perspective, is that our county precinct map ought to totally adjust to each federal and state regulation,” Meyers stated.
Fort Bend County Choose KP George acknowledged that he made feedback in 2021 that a number of the precincts have been designed to group collectively voters of shared racial backgrounds. He stated he should not have supported a map that was drawn on that foundation.
“I used to be by no means informed it’s unlawful, or federally, it’s not authorized to do one thing like that,” he stated.
George, a Democrat who’s dealing with cash laundering fees, has not too long ago damaged together with his occasion to aspect with Republicans in redistricting conflicts.
County Lawyer Bridgette Smith-Lawson, a Democrat, took challenge with informal claims that the county’s voter map is illegitimate.
“No courtroom has decided that our maps are unlawful,” she stated. “We’re utilizing this phrase loosely and likewise to the detriment of the general public. There was no discovering of illegality in these maps.”
Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy, a Democrat, stated he would help altering the voter precincts and drawing Meyers again into his authentic district. However he pushed again towards extra substantial adjustments.
“To say that we have to do a full scale redistricting right now, it’s a waste of taxpayer {dollars},” he stated. “It’s a waste of our county assets, and we have to make it possible for we begin making ready now for what redistricting in 2030 appears like.”
Finally, Meyers withdrew his maps from the assembly agenda.
“Primarily based on enter from constituents who attended the city corridor conferences on my proposed redistricting maps, I pulled the merchandise from in the present day’s Commissioners Courtroom assembly,” he stated in an announcement posted to Fb. “We’ll proceed with this redistricting effort to hunt extra enter from residents.”
McCoy and Meyers clashed a number of instances throughout the assembly, prompting George to bang his gavel and interrupt at one level.
On Wednesday, McCoy launched an announcement criticizing George and Meyers.
“This continued effort to impose on our residents a full-scale redistricting course of is disingenuous and baseless,” McCoy stated. “The redrawing of commissioner precinct boundaries is a critical duty that should be guided by correct information from the census — not political agendas or private vendettas.”
Public weighs in
Meyers drew backlash from some in the neighborhood after he held a collection of city corridor conferences on Memorial Day to debate redistricting. The commissioner stated the timing was past his management because the elections administrator’s proposed map had been positioned on the commissioners courtroom agenda for Tuesday.
The Fort Bend County Historic Courthouse was stuffed to capability on Tuesday, and a few members of the general public have been despatched to an overflow room throughout the corridor to look at the assembly.
Greater than 20 folks signed as much as communicate throughout a public listening to in regards to the redistricting maps.
Fort Bend resident Lynda Mixon, who served on the county’s redistricting fee in 2000, praised Meyers for his city halls.
“No different commissioner had conferences, and he’s making an attempt to be honest right here, making an attempt to do the appropriate factor,” she stated.
A number of audio system urged the commissioners courtroom to simply accept the maps proposed by the elections administrator’s workplace, somewhat than the maps proposed by Meyers. Some stated the maps – notably those put ahead by Meyers – would dilute the votes of Asian American and Pacific Islander residents.
“The introduction of those maps as they presently stand seem to violate federal regulation necessities aimed toward defending rights of minority voters,” stated Jennifer Cantu, a resident and member of the State Democratic Government Committee. “Particularly, they dilute the voting energy of the AAPI group, which is a big and vibrant a part of our citizens.”
Others requested the commissioners to delay redistricting till a future assembly and take extra time to evaluate the voter precincts.
Former Fort Bend County Choose Bob Hebert, a Republican, spoke on behalf of the Fort Bend Enterprise Coalition. He stated the coalition’s place was that the commissioners courtroom ought to delay a vote on the brand new maps and as an alternative look to have interaction residents within the course of.
“We firmly consider that voters ought to select their elected officers,” he stated. “Elected officers shouldn’t select their voters.”
