The Fisher County Commissioners Court hosted a public hearing last week to discuss the most recent Texas census data and how those statistics would affect county voting precinct boundary lines, with commissioners ultimately agreeing upon new maps before opening for filing applications for office.
Fisher County Clerk Pat Thomson explained that redistricting procedures would typically have already been completed by this time, however, difficulties with gathering, compiling and distributing census data during the pandemic put the process behind schedule across the nation, state, and Fisher County. Nevertheless, based on the most recent census data, the county must establish new voting boundaries to comply with the “one person, one vote” concept.
The county has been working with Allison, Bass, and Magee — a law firm that specializes in assisting county governments lawfully redraw district maps— since the new census data was released. The data revealed a more than 33% deviation in voter population between the largest and smallest precincts.
Precinct 4 was the largest with 1075 voters, compared to the smallest — Precinct 3 — with 769 voters. Ideally, each precinct would be numerically balanced, with each of the four precincts containing 918 voters. Based on the data, precinct 3 was underrepresented by 16.23%, whereas Precinct 4 was overrepresented by17.1%.
“This means, by law, since we are over the 10%, we have to redistrict,” said Thomson.
As the law allows for a 10% maximum deviation between precincts, the county was forced to redraw precinct boundaries for the first time in more than two decades. While budget concerns associated with maintaining the hundreds of miles of roads in the county, the mileage of roads within the new precinct boundaries has been an issue for commissioners.
While the legal team took road mileage into consideration when drawing new map proposals, in its correspondence with the county, the firm said the singular purpose of redistricting is to achieve the smallest possible deviation of representation between precincts, adding that it should be viewed as a plan for future growth and population shifts moving into the future.
Prior to the discussion and ultimate vote on the new precinct maps, Fisher County Judge Ken Holt reminded the court that any issues regarding the miles of roads or the corresponding maintenance budget could be discussed and mitigated during budget annual talks. Conversely, while roads can be addressed each year, redrawing precinct boundaries could only be addressed when new census data was acquired, a process occurring only once per decade.
The initial maps reviewed in recent weeks folded the entirety of McCaulley into Precinct 1, while significant changes were made within the city of Rotan and Roby to offset Precinct 3’s low voter numbers. The proposed plan for redistricting allowed the county a total of 4.9% between precincts.
Additionally, given the slow schedule for releasing the necessary data and being behind the curve on redistricting efforts, it was imperative the court approve the new voting maps as soon as possible. The pressure was on as maps needed to be submitted to the state and voters notified by the time filing to run for office opened early this week.
However, Commissioner Preston Martin has been working with the legal team since the initial maps were presented last month and proposed an alternative map that he said would make road milage more equitable, make better use of existing physical boundaries line highways and rivers, while also having a minimal effect on voter numbers seen in the initial maps.
The alternative map left precincts 1 and 4 unchanged and precincts 2 and 3 with only slight alterations. The only issue for consideration was assuring that Rotan ISD remains in Precinct 2 as polling locations that are readily assessable to the general public and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act are difficult to find. After a brief recess to better present the alterative map for public viewing, there was little further discussion as officials and members of the public agreed upon its adoption.