Galveston County leaders are preparing to adopt
new precinct maps that would either eliminate or dilute the county’s only precinct designed to represent communities of color — and there's little opponents can do to avert the change.
The two maps under consideration would gut the coalition Black-and-Hispanic representation in Galveston County Precinct 3. One would dismantle the precinct entirely by shifting it inland, and the other would nullify the minority voting advantage by adding to it the largely Anglo Bolivar Peninsula. Republican county leaders employed GOP strategist Dale Oldham to draw the maps.
Either map would likely cost the seat of
Commissioner Stephen Holmes, the lone Democrat on the county commissioners court.
"He's also the only commissioner elected by voters of color in the county as well, so there are significant implications for the Voting Rights Act at play," said Stephanie Swanson, redistricting chair of the League of Women Voters of Texas.
Holmes, first appointed to the court in 1999, is up for reelection in 2024. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Supreme Court ruled in
Shelby County v. Holder in 2013 to eliminate the Voting Rights Act requirement that forced Texas to get permission from the federal government before altering its maps.
"Because preclearance is gone, there's nothing stopping the county from adopting discriminatory maps this cycle," Swanson said. “Folks will have to step in, voting rights advocates will have to step in after the fact to file suit.”
Galveston County's Republican County Judge Mark Henry declined a request for comment. County leaders will vote on new maps
this Friday.
Swanson said that the removal of preclearance has had an extreme effect on Galveston County's redistricting process — along with the entire state of Texas.
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