Texas primary elections won’t be held on April 3

LIVINGSTON – A proposed temporary fi x to Texas’ months-long fi ght over redistricting was rejected late Monday afternoon by a federal judge. Hours before the latest rejection came, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued a statement outlining an agreement reached with some parties regarding the ongoing redistricting legal fi ght, the Texas Democratic Party reported in a press release, saying, “We were not involved in the discussions that produced this agreement, we are not in agreement with the maps released by the Attorney General, and we do not expect that these maps will be used for the 2012 election. “We’re greatly disappointed the Attorney General did not deal in good faith with all parties involved. For the Texas Democratic Party, any maps that do not have the consent of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, the Legislative Black Caucus and other plaintiffs are nonstarters. “The Attorney General is clearly terrifi ed that the DC court will fi nd that the state’s maps are discriminatory in both effect and intent. Until there’s a legitimate agreement among the parties, we support the court continuing to do its work.” The Associated Press reported that the court order will likely delay Texas’ primary elections for a second time. Republicans feared that another delay could prevent Texas voters from helping decide which GOP candidate challenges President Barack Obama in November. Advocacy groups are suing the state, alleging the Republican-controlled Legislature ignored the state’s Hispanic population when it redrew boundaries for congressional and state legislative districts. Monday was the deadline for maps for the 2012 elections in order to hold the primaries on April 3. Abbott said Monday in a written statement that he has worked with a wide range of interest groups to incorporate reasonable requests from all parties without compromising the will of the Texas Legislature, stating that a primary likely couldn’t be organized before April 17. The members of the Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force have signed off on the state’s proposal, saying it gives them almost all of what they were after when they filed suit over redistricting, according to reports published by the Texas Tribune. In particular, they said the proposal reflects the growth in the state’s minority populations, particularly in the congressional plans that add four new seats to the state’s 32-member delegation. Nina Perales, director of litigation for MALDEF, said all but one of several changes sought by that group are included in the proposal, and she said her group would be willing to leave these maps in place through 2020 — not just through the next election. She said the proposal gives the court an opportunity to hold April 3 primary elections. The court has set hearings for next week — it could move those up — but holding primaries at the beginning of April will depend on whether the judges approve these maps and on how long it takes to resolve objections from the parties that haven’t agreed. State Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, says she’s not in any deal. “There is no agreement on a Senate map,” Davis said. “Rather than meet the concerns of Texas voters, the Texas Attorney General continues to advance the same effort to dilute minority voting strength as we saw attempted in the 82nd Legislative Session. This is not a good faith effort.” Democratic officials across the state sent notifications to candidates and election workers that “all previously announced Primary Election and filing dates have been vacated. There are no dates. No new filings may be accepted and no candidate will be allowed to withdraw and return the filing fee unless they have been found ineligible. Securing a site for Precinct or County conventions and ballot ordering drawings are not allowed during this time. The upside is voter registration can continue until 30 days before the unknown.