| As of Noon Tuesday, February 7, 2012, there are few things clear, and many more things unclear, about the status of Texas electoral calendar and the maps for Texas' U.S. Congressional and State legislative races.
THE SAN ANTONIO COURT HAS REJECTED PARTIAL COMPROMISE
First, it appears clear, as reported by detailed articles in both the Dallas Morning News, and the Austin American Statesman, and as discussed yesterday afternoon in Michael Li's 4:45 update on this story, the three Judge Panel in San Antonio is not accepting the "proposed settlement" offered by Attorney General Abbott and some, but not all, of the Plaintiffs suing the state to enforce the Voters Rights Act.
Specifically, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia has appeared to reject any partial deal as satisfying the Court's prior order and instead issued a court Order notifying the parties that "in the absence of a general agreement between all Plaintiffs and the State of Texas, the parties are reminded that they must follow all prior deadlines."
UNCERTAINTY REIGNS AS NEXT HEARING FOR MAPS IS 8 DAYS AWAY
Second, under the court's previously announced schedule, the next hearing on interim maps is not scheduled to occur until Wednesday, February 15, at 8 a.m.
Third, as many parties had previously stated that settlement was the last best hope for an April Texas Primary, the above items places the currently hoped for April primary in jeopardy and places the calendar for the future Texas 2012 primary in a total state of uncertainty. |
