Fair Maps Texas Action Committee v. Abbott (consolidated as LULAC v. Abbott)
Case Summary
Lawsuit filed on behalf of Fair Maps Texas Action Committee (of which the LWV of Texas is a member), OCA-Greater Houston, the North Texas Chapter of the Asian Pacific Islander Americans Public Affairs Association, Emgage Texas and individual voters challenging the state’s new legislative and congressional districts as a violation of the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
After the 2020 Census, Texas was required to redraw its state legislative and Congressional districts to account for population changes. In the past decade since the 2010 Census, Texas’ population had substantially increased, with people of color accounting for the vast majority of this change.
Subsequently, the Texas legislature enacted new state house, state senate, and Congressional maps in 2021.
On November 16, 2021, the Fair Maps Texas Action Committee, consisting of the League of Women Voters of Texas (LWV Texas), OCA-Greater Houston, the North Texas Chapter of the Asian Pacific Islander Americans Public Affairs Association ("North Texas APAPA"), Engage Texas, and thirteen individual voters filed a federal lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas asserting the state’s new legislative and Congressional districts violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (“VRA”), the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and were racially gerrymandered in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The complaint asserted the new districts discriminated against Texans of color, by (1) failing to create additional districts allowing voters of color the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice under Section 2 of the VRA, (2) cracking i.e. dividing voters of color into multiple districts to avoid creating districts providing voters of color the ability to elect candidates of their choice, and/or (3) destroying functional crossover and coalition districts, in which white voters and voters of color vote in coalition, or multiple groups of voters of color vote in coalition, respectively. Plaintiffs also argued each challenged set of maps diluted the power of voters of color’ votes.
In their complaint, LWV Texas and its co-plaintiffs directed their focus on several counties containing substantial populations of voters of color, including Fort Bend, Bell, Collin, Tarrant, Harris, and Dallas Counties.
The complaint requested the court to block the use of the maps and order the creation of new maps that did not dilute voters of colors’ votes.
On November 19, 2021, LWV Texas’ case was consolidated with six others challenging Texas’ redistricting results; the lead case is League of United Latin American Citizens v. Abbott. Litigation is ongoing.
Plaintiffs are represented by the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ), the ACLU of Texas, and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF).
Note: Due to the complexity of the case, this case summary will follow the progress of the claims brought by the Fair Maps Texas Action Committee, of which LWV Texas is a member.
LWV Timeline
LWV Texas and partners file complaint
The Fair Maps Texas Action Committee, of which the LWV of Texas is a member, OCA-Greater Houston, the North Texas Chapter of the Asian Pacific Islander Americans Public Affairs Association, Engage Texas, and individual voters file a lawsuit asserting the state’s new legislative and Congressional districts violate the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act.
District court orders case to be consolidated
The court consolidates the case with five other cases into a single case, LULAC v. Abbott.
Defendants file motion to dismiss the Fair Maps Action Committee’s complaint
Defendants assert that the plaintiffs do not have standing to contest the new maps, that Texas has no duty to draw districts to ensure coalitions of people of color could have the opportunity to elect representatives, and that the districts were drawn by the Legislature based on partisan, not racial, motives.
District court partially grants defendants’ motion to dismiss
The district court partially grants defendant's motion to dismiss LWV Texas' complaint, ruling its co-plaintiffs, OCA-Greater Houston, North Texas APAPA, and Emgage lack standing to sue. The court also partially dismisses the plaintiffs' claim under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and partly dismisses their intentional discrimination and racial gerrymandering claims, except as applied to some of the challenged legislative and Congressional districts.
Fair Maps Action Committee files first amended complaint
The Fair Maps Plaintiffs file their first amended complaint against the defendants in conformity with the court’s previous orders, alleging violations of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the US Constitution, among others.
Plaintiffs file second amended complaint
LWV Texas and its co-plaintiffs file a second amended complaint, asserting the new state legislative and Congressional maps were racially gerrymandered and violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The complaint alleges the maps illegally decreased the number of majority-Latino and Black districts by cracking voters of color between multiple districts, preventing them from freely electing candidates of their choice, even as their population grew over the past decade.
Court denies defendants' motion to dismiss second amended complaint
The court denies defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiffs' second amended complaint. The court rules LWV Texas and co-plaintiffs plausibly alleged claims under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act against the Sixth, Thirtieth, Thirty-Second, and Thirty-Third Congressional districts and the Ninth, Tenth, and Twenty-Second state senate districts.
Plaintiffs file supplemental complaint
LWV Texas and its co-plaintiffs file a supplemental complaint, alleging the state house and state senate maps, identical to those passed in 2021, that were reenacted in 2023, were illegal under the claims asserted in the second amended complaint. The maps were reenacted due to a state constitutional provision requiring legislative maps be drawn in 2023, the year of the first regular state legislative session after the decennial census.
Fifth Circuit bars coalition district claims under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act
In a separate case challenging Galveston County's commissioner districts, the Fifth Circuit, sitting en banc, issues a decision stating that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act does not allow plaintiffs to sue to create coalition districts, that is, districts in which different groups of voters of color vote cohesively and have the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. Under the circuit court's decision, plaintiffs can no longer assert such claims in federal court in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Court partially dismisses supplemental complaint
The court partially grants defendants' motion to dismiss the supplemental complaint filed by LWV Texas and its co-plaintiffs. Several claims based upon the drawing of coalition districts are dismissed due to the Fifth Circuit's en banc ruling. The plaintiffs are allowed to amend their complaint based upon the Petteway decision.
LWV Texas voluntarily dismisses claims
After unfavorable developments in voting rights case law, LWV Texas and several co-plaintiffs voluntarily dismiss their claims against the maps.