Analysis: You Thought Your State Government Worked For You?
A lot can happen when you're distracted by presidential politics. The past week offered a few relatively local reminders of why politics matters. Full Story
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![Reserved parking places awaited voters at the Hays County Government Center in San Marcos on Feb 25, 2016.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Analysis: In Voter ID, Redistricting Cases, Justice Takes its Time
After years of litigation, we have a voter ID ruling. But two years after the most recent hearings on the political maps drawn five years ago, the judges who are supposed to be ensuring access to your right to vote haven’t ruled. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Anneke Paterson / Todd Wiseman -
Analysis: Texas Voters Take Hit While Judges Ponder Election Laws
The evidence is piling up: If the law allows Texas and other states to discriminate, they will discriminate. Full Story
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Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: In Texas Case, Supreme Court Rules Nonvoters are People, Too
In a ruling on political redistricting this week, the U.S. Supreme Court made an argument for equal representation from legislators even if that means voters don't get an equal say in electing them. Full Story
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![Tatiana Suriano (center) and Mario Carrillo (right) of Voto Latino demonstrated in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 8, 2015, before a Congressional Hispanic Caucus news conference on the Evenwel v. Abbott case. The case dealt with a challenge to how Texas' legislative districts are drawn.]()
Credit: Allison Shelley -
In Texas Case, Supreme Court Upholds One Person, One Vote
In a unanimous decision released Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to uphold Texas' current system for drawing legislative districts so that they are roughly equal in population. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
In Nine Trips to Supreme Court, Ted Cruz Saw Mixed Results
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz belongs to an elite club of lawyers who have repeatedly argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. A closer look at the nine times the Texan argued before the justices shows wins and losses as he challenged legal limits. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Chris Maddaloni / The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: In the World of Redistricting, Somebody Will Always Be Slighted
Some people think it’s unfair to have more eligible voters in one legislative district than in another. But the number of eligible voters in each district is far from the only difference that might matter to voters. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Analysis: Equal Numbers of District Voters — or District Constituents?
When political districts are based on population, each official represents the same number of people. If the lines were based instead on voting-age populations, their districts could have large variations in the numbers of people — voters plus nonvoters — they represent and serve. Full Story
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U.S. Supreme Court Hears Texas Redistricting Case
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday over a Texas case that sought to clarify what “one person, one vote” means in American politics. Full Story
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![Mario Carrillo (left) and Avery Lord, both of Voto Latino, held a sign ahead of a Congressional Hispanic Caucus prepares press conference in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 8, 2015. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments that day in the Evenwel v. Abbott case.]()
Credit: Allison Shelley for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Redistricting Case Could Have Effect Across the United States
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday over how Americans are sorted into state legislative districts. A ruling could change the makeup of statehouses and, because state legislators draw the political maps, of Congress. Full Story
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High Stakes for Democrats in Supreme Court Redistricting Case
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday in a case that could have far-reaching implications for the way legislative districts in Texas — and across the country — are drawn. Full Story
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Analysis: A Peculiar Way to Disenfranchise Voters
Texas lawmakers have designed a congressional district too slippery for either political party to control, making it impossible for anyone to stay in office long enough to build up the clout needed to get things done for the folks at home. Full Story
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Court: Texas Elections Should Proceed with Current Maps
The state’s 2016 elections for Congress and the Texas House can proceed under the current political maps, a three-judge federal panel in San Antonio said late Friday. Full Story
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Analysis: Texas Election Managers Are Partying Like It's 2012
Federal judges are deciding two major Texas election law cases. One in particular — over the political maps for state House and congressional districts — has officials thinking about 2012, when the courts delayed the primary elections. Full Story
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Analysis: Waiting, Literally, for the Political Field to Take Shape
Not all of the pieces are in place as the new political season begins. For starters, the maps used to elect people to the Texas House and to the state's congressional delegation are still tangled up in federal litigation. Full Story
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Analysis: Redistricting Reformers Remain Pessimistic After Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court says it is constitutional to let nonlegislators draw the political maps from which legislators are elected. But that doesn't mean it's going to happen in Texas. Full Story
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![Rep. Donna Howard (D-48) on the floor of the Texas House, February 15, 2011.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
When It Comes to Voting Rights, Who's a Person?
A Texas case accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court could decide just who a "person" is when voting rights are concerned. The phrase in question is a famous one: "One person, one vote." Full Story
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Analysis: Legislative Overtime? Look to the Federal Courts
If the Texas Legislature has to come back for special sessions after its current session ends, it might not be because state lawmakers left something unresolved. It might trace back to election lawsuits pending in federal courts. Full Story
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Next Round of Redistricting Battle Begins Mid-July
A week from Monday, lawyers, reporters and other interested parties will herd into a now-familiar federal courthouse in San Antonio as the next phase of the redistricting fight begins. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Anneke Paterson / Todd Wiseman -
Analysis: Down the Ballot, Few Races in November
Political mapmakers have moved most of the real competition for congressional and legislative races in Texas to the March primaries. The November general elections will feature only a dozen or so real contests on the ballot. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Anneke Paterson / Todd Wiseman
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