For more slideshows, click here
Texas political maps unchanged - at least for now
By ALEXA URA
Texas Tribune
The 2018 elections will move forward without any tweaks to Texas' political maps.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling to uphold all but one of the state's political districts, a three-judge federal panel in San Antonio on Tuesday ordered that the state's maps should stay in place for this year's elections despite outstanding issues with House District 90.
The Tarrant County-based district was the sole exception the Supreme Court made in OK'ing the state's maps last week. That district, which is held by Democratic state Rep. Ramon Romero, was deemed an impermissible racial gerrymander because lawmakers illegally used race as the predominant factor in deciding its boundaries.
Commentary on court's gerrymandering ruling
By THOMAS WOLF and WENDY WEISER
Brennan Center for Justice
The Supreme Court once again passed up a historic opportunity to finally put some limits on partisan gerrymandering.
In a pair of cases from Wisconsin and Maryland, the court declined on June 18 to take on the big question: When does gerrymandering, the drawing of districts to benefit the political party in control, go so far as to be illegal?
The result is disappointing but not devastating: The cases will continue, and the court has left open several paths to rein in gerrymandering. For the sake of our democracy, the court needs to act soon.
To read the whole article, go HERE.
Want to encourage people to vote? You are needed!
The San Antonio League is embarking on an aggressive effort to register more voters in time for the November election and then to get them out to vote.
In addition to the Empowering Voters Project (see information at right), we plan to work with disabled citizens, especially during National Disability Voter Registration Week in July; and young people, whose registration and voting numbers are low.
We need a group of volunteer voter registrars. All it takes is a one-hour class at the Bexar elections office -- the next ones are July 10 at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Even if you don't do that, you may have other skills, such as helping people fill out requests for mail-in ballots or encouraging people to vote, and more.
Anyone interested should contact Glenda Wolin at league@lwvsa.org.
Current Newsletter - July 2018
(Fast-forward through about 10 minutes of this sign to start the the video.)
See Councilman Rey Saldaña's speech at the luncheon here
Voter registration drive planned
LWV, disabled community unite for power
The League of Women Voters of the San Antonio Area is partnering with Deaf Link and Lighthouse for the Blind to educate and register citizens with disabilities so they can make their voices heard in local, state and national elections.
“More than 260,000 people in Bexar County have disabilities, and they face many barriers to registration and voting,” said Madhu Sridhar, president of the San Antonio Area League. “As part of our outreach to
underrepresented communities, the League is organizing this event during National Disability Voter Registration Week.”
What: Voter registration, education for people with disabilities.
When: 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, July 18
Where: Eco Centro, 1802 N. Main, San Antonio
In addition to assistance with voter registration and applications for voting by mail, the event will feature:
- a speech by State Sen. Jose Menendez
- a demonstration of voting machine with ballot for the blind
- educational material about voting and disabilities
- a deaf-accessible video version of a League of Women Voters pamphlet about the importance of voting
- people who can answer questions about the voting process.