12.11.11
More information on the continuing Texas redistricting saga
Texas Redistricting is the “go to” source for information. He has three good posts to check out.
First sort of an FAQ on what’s going on, Answers to some common questions about the Supreme Court’s ruling. The most pressing questions deal with what this means for the primaries and the upcoming (December 15th) filing deadline.
What about the filing deadline?
That remains December 15 for now, though as noted above, there are now no legislative or congressional districts to file for.
What about the March primary?
The March 6 primary also remains in place for now, but adjustments are virtually certain- even if the Supreme Court rules quickly after the January 9 oral argument.
At this point, it’s very unlikely that the primaries for state house, senate, and congressional races could be kept on March 6 just because of the logistics involved.
The ballot order draw in each county is scheduled for December 20 and ballots will be printed shortly after that (the process takes about two weeks) so that military mail ballots can go out by mid-January, as required under federal law.
The process of redrawing precinct boundaries (and the need to have those boundaries precleared) further complicates matters and makes it unlikely that the March date can maintained if state house, senate, and congressional races are added back into the mix.
In other words, it seems certain that either the entire primary or primary elections for state house, senate, and congressional districts will need to be moved.
The state has suggested having state house, senate, and congressional primaries on May 22, with the primary for all other races remaining on March 6. However, the Supreme Court has not addressed the issue yet or asked the San Antonio court to do so.
And this one on what a logistical nightmare two primaries would be in Texas, Thoughts from a election administrator about a bifurcated primary.
From an email I received this morning from an election administrator about the possibility of having the legislative and congressional primary in May and everything else in March:
One of my biggest fears in a bifurcated primary is that the Early Voting period for a runoff is different from a Primary or General Election. If we have both elections on the same day, and no adjustment is made, a voter could possibly cast a ballot in a Primary for State Senator, but have to return a week later to cast a ballot in a runoff for U.S. Senator. Also, Early voting period for the runoff is currently scheduled to begin the next business day after our municipal and school elections. If we had the typical 2-week EV period for the bifurcated Primary, we could have two different elections happening in the same polls at the same time. Ugly.
The cost of two primaries would hit all counties hard, More comments about the election schedule post-SCOTUS ruling.
From Wade Emmert, chair of the Dallas County Republican Party (via Twitter):
Hope they move entire primary to May rather than split it. Would cost counties twice as much to hold 2 primaries.
And a rough schedule of what’s to come, Combined schedule for what’s coming up the next few weeks.
Everything is up in the air at this point but as of right now the best advice to candidates seeking to run for office is to file by December 15th. Certainly that could change as early as tomorrow.