The Texas Constitution provides many more details in its specification of government structure and procedures than does the U.S. Constitution. This is not surprising given that the state document in its original form was almost fifteen times as long as its counterpart on the national level.
So, it seems natural that it would provide more specific rules on how to draw legislative and congressional districts than the U.S. Constitution. Despite the added coverage, however, the limited nature of these additional redistricting rules is striking.
Let's zoom in.
The main article in the Texas Constitution that specifies the Legislative Department (Article 3) identifies a few specific characteristics required of all legislative districts (it is silent on congressional districts). The state constitution identifies really only two requirements with regard to the shape and boundaries of state legislative districts: contiguity and preservation of the integrity of counties (where possible).
First we have the section title "Senatorial Districts" (Article 3, section 25), which spanning just twenty-one words requires only that the territory of senatorial districts be contiguous: "The State shall be divided into Senatorial Districts of contiguous territory, and each district shall be entitled to elect one Senator."
The section on districts for the House of Representatives (Article 3, section 26) is notably much more detailed. Indeed, even the section title is more descriptive: "Apportionment of Members of House of Representatives."
In addition to specifying that the territory of House districts be contiguous, the framers added language that requires keeping whole counties intact when drawing district lines.
[W]henever a single county has sufficient population to be entitled to a Representative, such county shall be formed into a separate Representative District, and when two or more counties are required to make up the ratio of representation, such counties shall be contiguous to each other; and when any one county has more than sufficient population to be entitled to one or more Representatives, such Representative or Representatives shall be apportioned to such county, and for any surplus of population it may be joined in a Representative District with any other contiguous county or counties.
So, that's it: contiguity and preserving the integrity of counties where possible. Although these requirements say much more about how legislative districts must be drawn than anything in the U.S. Constitution, they still leave much room for the creative musings of our state legislators. The rules do matter, and they must be respected. But sometimes it is difficult to devise rules for something as complex as redistricting. |
