Supreme Court Throws Out Redistricting Maps

WASHINGTON, January 20, 2012 - I n a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court has thrown out the map passed by the San Antonio federal panel. The ball is back in the San Antonio court to revise the Texas Legislature approved maps and we expect them to act quickly. Unfortunately, we won’t know the opening day of the second filing period until we hear from the San Antonio court but we remain optimistic for a late January filing period and an April 3rd primary.

While this is really good news, it does present more questions than answers at this time and we will keep you updated as we receive further direction from the district court.

What you should be doing now to prepare for the filing period and primary election:

· Draft your notice of availability to post during the filing period. Attached is the sample posted by the RPT during the last filing period. You will need to post this either at your headquarters, if you have one, or at the County Courthouse if you don’t have a public office.
· Keep people informed. Please feel free to share this email and further information with your candidates and volunteers.
· Line up your polling locations and elected judges for primary and run off election days.
· Prepare for your county or senatorial district conventions to elect delegates to the state convention. Here is a link to the RPT webpage with information “About the Party”. Scroll to about ¾ down the page for convention information, http://www.texasgop.org/about-the-party. Note: Counties with split precincts under any map should wait until next week for final maps. Counties also will have to redraw precincts to conform to the final plans which will take another week or two.
· If you have not heard from the Secretary of State or if you have questions regarding your primary finance, please call the primary finance division of the elections office. They can be reached at 800-252-2216.

This link will take you to a copy of the Supreme Court ruling, http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-713.pdf.

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