Redistricting lawsuit

As reported in the Chronicle's blog:

Mayor Bill White on the dismissal of the redistricting lawsuit against the city:

"In order to do what is right for all voters, I sought the advice of counsel who recommended we use the best demographic information obtained from the 2010 census," White said in a statement. "City officials have fielded a lot of criticism; but, Judge Lake's ruling confirms that the decision to wait until we get the best available data is most fair to voters."

Read Judge Sim Lake's full decision here, which has a lengthy, although quite interesting, history of the complex voting rights issues that led to the present City Council composition. Read the Mayor's Office release after the jump.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 27, 2009

A Federal Court Rules in Favor of the City of Houston on the Issue of
When to Expand City Council

The City of Houston has prevailed in a federal lawsuit over when officials should begin the process to expand City Council.

A 1979 amendment to the City Charter requires the number of council seats to be increased from fourteen to sixteen, when the population of Houston reaches 2.1 million.

City officials acknowledge Houston's population has reached the threshold to begin the process. According to City Attorney Arturo Michel, numerous court decisions confirm that only census data, produced once a decade, next due in April, 2011, provides the detailed information for specific geographic areas by race, ethnicity, voting age population, etc., needed to change council district boundaries in a way that complies with federal statutory and constitutional law.

"In order to do what is right for all voters, I sought the advice of counsel who recommended we use the best demographic information obtained from the 2010 census," said Mayor White. "City officials have fielded a lot of criticism; but, Judge Lake's ruling confirms that the decision to wait until we get the best available data is most fair to voters."

Opponents claimed that by waiting, the City of Houston was diluting the voting strength of minority voters.

Federal Judge Sim Lake dismissed the case after determining the plaintiffs failed to prove their claim. In the ruling, Judge Lake states, "The voters' approval of the Council-expanding provision in the Charter in no way indicates that a fourteen-member Council somehow becomes dilutive of minority votes...."

Judge Lake's written ruling went on to state, "Because the plaintiffs have failed to identify, based on an objective and workable standard, a benchmark against which to test the challenged voting practice, they cannot maintain (their claim)."