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SAN ANTONIO — In the final moments of Tuesday’s redistricting hearing, a three-judge panel said Texas’ primary elections likely will not occur before May 29. While Judge Jerry Smith, one of three federal judges in the San Antonio redistricting case, said the likely date of the primaries will be May 29, he did not commit to the date. Smith, however, told the state’s two major political political parties that they should prepare proposals based on that assumption The Republican Party of Texas and the Texas Democratic Party will prepare a schedule in the coming days that will include dates for early voting and runoffs. They also will determine when to reopen the filing period for candidates looking to run for office. Continue reading from The Statesman… Delay of pre-clearance decision could push back April primary… A federal court in Washington, D.C., that is considering a portion of the Texas redistricting litigation said Wednesday that it won’t issue a decision within the next 30 days, a move that could derail the chances of the scheduled April 3 primary election. “An April 3rd primary clearly is dead, absent an agreement,” said Michael Li, a Dallas lawyer and author of a Texas redistricting blog. Li added that it’s still possible to have an election on April 17 if a federal court in San Antonio doesn’t wait for the Washington court’s decision before it draws interim maps for the U.S. House, Texas House and state Senate. Also, the order by the Washington court increases the possibility of a split primary in which the presidential and perhaps some other elections would be held separately from races for Congress and the Legislature, Li said. WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court on Friday ordered new interim maps drawn for Texas’ April 3 primary, handing Republicans a partial if possibly short-lived victory in a battle over as many as four House seats. The unsigned decision sends the case back to a federal district court in San Antonio, which in November drew interim districts to tide Texas over while litigation over their final shape continues. The Supreme Court directed the San Antonio court to base interim maps on the redistricting plan that Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed last year, rather than use “its own concept of ‘the collective public good.’ ” It was unclear, however, if the lower court would have to make drastic changes to the interim maps. The justices said the San Antonio court could deviate from the Perry-approved map to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act, which prohibits dilution of minorities’ voting power. Read more from the Wall Street Journal… More from the Wall Street Journal, Holder’s Texas Defeat… Voters began calling Kathryn Nealy’s office weeks ago asking when they can expect new registration cards. Her answer is the same one elections administrators across Texas are giving. “We don’t know,” Nealy said Monday, her answer reflecting the growing uncertainty of the coming party primary date. The date for Republicans and Democrats to choose their candidates for the general election this fall is April 3 — for now. It’s already moved once, thanks to lawsuits over political boundaries that continue to engage three federal courts. Without lines describing the political jurisdictions for Texas House and Senate members, as well as U.S. Congress members, there can be no voter registration cards. Nealy, the Gregg County elections administrator, said voting locations within the county do not appear likely to change from the proposal sent to the U.S. Department of Justice this past fall. Continue reading from the LNJ… Click here to view Eagle Forum’s U.S. Congressional Scorecard. As we enter 2012, the presidential candidates would do well to wrap their minds and messages around these seven mathematical facts:
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