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Constable Bruce Elfant
Notebook Archives
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Constable's Notebook - July 2011
For the first time since well before Lyndon Johnson represented Central Texas in the 1930s and ‘40s,
Travis County may no longer have a member of Congress that we can call our own. The recently passed
Congressional redistricting map would carve Travis County into five separate congressional districts
which extends to Waco, Houston, Fort Worth and San Antonio. Central Austin neighborhoods in my
constable precinct which have far more in common with each other than they do with other cities
would be split into four congressional districts. My new district would actually repatriate me
with the Houston district where I grew up. One block south of my house is a district that includes
the University of Texas at Austin – and Fort Worth suburbs. The southern downtown part of my constable
precinct and the far northern portion would be represented by two different Congressional districts
that extend to northwest and northeast San Antonio.
In a clear violation of the Voting Rights Act and Constitutional rules, this redistricting map
also segregates and dilutes minority populations by splitting them into districts in order to
eliminate their impact. The historically African-American community would be included in the
Fort Worth district with no hope of electing a minority candidate or any candidate of their
preference. The historically Hispanic community would be separated for the first time from
the African-American community and become a part of San Antonio also with little chance of
electing anyone from Austin.
So why should this matter? After all, the Redistricting Committee chair suggested that Travis
County with five congressional districts would actually have more clout in Congress than if
represented by only two or three districts. He knows better because he chose not to adopt this
unique theory of enhanced representation for any other Texas County. If this map goes into effect,
Travis County would become the largest County in Texas not to have its own Congressional district
or even a district with any more than 35% of a district’s population. Seven smaller counties
including Williamson (with half our population) would each have districts that contain a majority
of the district’s population.
This matters because politicians pay more attention to the areas with the most voters. Travis
County would not be a high priority for any of the five representatives who would be more concerned
with tending to the needs of counties with more voters. With no one in Congress primarily advocating
for Travis County it would become harder for local governmental entities to access our share of
federal funds or special considerations to support local projects or other needs. Worst of all,
of course, is the way it treats minority voters and the tri-ethnic coalition that has long been
a source of special local pride.
Because legal and effective congressional representation does matter, I have agreed to be a
plaintiff in a federal lawsuit along with Travis County and the City of Austin. Carving Travis
County up like a Thanksgiving turkey violates our rights by further diluting minority voting
strength and denies the ability of a county with more than 1,000,000 citizens from being able
to elect even one member of Congress. The courts have historically righted legislative wrongs
so I am hopeful that they will reinstate our rights to vote for and elect candidates who best
share our community interests.
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