FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 26, 2001

LRB Statewide Legislative Plans Fall Short of MALDEF/WCVI/LULAC Recommendations to Create Fair Redistricting Plan
LRB Plans Create 2 Less Seats in Both House and Senate

San Antonio, TX - The plans adopted by the Legislative Redistricting Board (LRB) fall short of the recommendations set forth in the statewide House and Senate proposals submitted by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the William C. Velásquez Institute (WCVI) and the Texas League of United Latin American Citizens (TX LULAC). The MALDEF/WCVI/TXLULAC plans reflect the rapid growth of the Latino community throughout various parts of the state and present greater opportunity for Latinos to elect their representatives of choice.Based on an analysis of Latino population growth throughout Texas, the MALDEF/WCVI/TXLULAC plans also support new Latino majority districts (5 in the House and 2 in the Senate) the opportunity to elect their candidates of choice.

Comparison of LRB House Plan and MALDEF/LULAC/WCVI House Plan to 2000 House Plan:
Number of House Districts with Latino Voting-Age Population % Between 70-30%

Note: Latino Majority district defined as 50%+ Latino Voting-Age Population (LVAP). Source: Texas Legislative Council

The LRB House plan does not reflect potential opportunities that existed for an additional Latino majority district in Harris and another in Dallas. In all, the LRB House plan creates 34 Latino majority districts, 2 short of the MALDEF/WCVI/TXLULAC plan, throughout the state of Texas with new open seats in Harris, Travis and Webb counties. An additional 2 Latino majority open seats, that previously existed in different configurations, also exist in Hidalgo and Maverick counties.

An analysis of the LRB House plan and the MALDEF/WCVI/TXLULAC plan shows that the MALDEF/WCVI/TXLULAC plan does a better job of creating Latino majority districts, 36 to 34. The LRB plan unnecessarily creates an increased number of districts over 70% Latino voting-age population (LVAP) compared to the MALDEF/WCVI/TX-LULAC plan , 15 to 14 as well as districts between 69-60% LVAP, 12 to 10. By doing so, the LRB plan creates 5 less districts that have a LVAP% between 59-50% as compared to MALDEF/WCVI/TXLULAC plan, 7 to 12.

The LRB plan also lacks in the number of influence districts, or districts where Latinos represent over 49-35% of the voting-age population, created as compared to the MALDEF /WCVI/TXLULAC plan, 7 to 4. In a state where Latinos experienced a 53.7% increase in population throughout Texas, and furthermore represented 60.3% of the total population growth, the potential for increased opportunities existed. Especially disconcerting was the pairing of Latino elected officials in Bexar and Hidalgo counties, decreasing the number of Latino elected officials in Bexar.

The LRB Senate plan was even more disappointing because it reflected no additional Latino majority districts. The MALDEF/WCVI/TXLULAC plan created new Senate districts in Dallas/Tarrant counties and South Texas. The Senate does maintain the seven Latino majority districts that currently exist but creates no new opportunities for communities in Latino majority districts to elect a candidate of choice.

"We are very disappointed in the plans adopted by the LRB. An opportunity existed for the LRB to create a plan that fairly represented the diverse communities of Texas, while recognizing the tremendous demographic growth of Latinos. It now seems that Latinos will have to seek fair redistricting in the courts," comments Antonio González, WCVI President.

The William C. Velásquez Institute (WCVI) is a non-partisan Latino public policy and research think tank that examines Latino electoral trends. Since it's founding in 1985, WCVI has been at the forefront of Latino research in the areas of civic and economic empowerment. For more information, please refer to the website at www.wcvi.org.