Protecting Galveston Voters Against Racially Discriminatory Maps

In 2011, Galveston County passed maps for the Commissioners Court and Justices of the Peace Court which diminished the ability of Black and Latino voters to elect candidates for those offices. The Department of Justice objected to the maps under the preclearance process of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965, and the county was forced to reconsider their discriminatory maps. After the U.S. Supreme Court held that the preclearance process no longer applied in Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, however, the county passed a more discriminatory map for the justices of the peace. As a result, in 2013, several Galveston County residents filed a lawsuit against the county adopting a justices of the peace map that discriminated against Black and Latino voters.

The 2020 census revealed significant population growth among Black and Latino residents in Galveston County. Accordingly, the county redrew the maps for the Commissioners Court to ensure that Black and Latino voters would not be able to elect a representative for the Commissioners Court in any of the districts. Furthermore, the new map adopted by the county virtually ensured the electoral defeat of the sole candidate of choice for Black and Latino voters who sat on the Commissioners Court. The county adopted this map with the intent of discriminating against Black and Latino voters to ensure that they would not have a voice in county government. Finally, the county chose not to change the already-discriminatory map for the Justices of the Peace Court for which they are currently being sued.

The county’s actions represent a larger pattern of local governments engaging in discriminatory redistricting processes after the 2020 census. The 2020 census marked the first redistricting cycle in 50 years in which the full VRA is no longer in effect. Accordingly, local governments that formerly had to submit their redistricting plans to the federal government under preclearance — including Galveston County — are no longer subject to federal oversight after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder. These counties have a history of discrimination against voters of color and are now reengaging in discriminatory redistricting practices with impunity.

In 2021, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) joined the ongoing lawsuit, first filed in 2013, to represent Galveston County voters against the ongoing racial discrimination by Galveston County. These voters live in Commissioners Court districts, which were intentionally drawn to deprive them of the equal opportunity to elect their candidates of choice.

CLC filed a new complaint in 2022 on behalf of the voters to challenge the ongoing discrimination which occurred after the 2020 census, in violation of the VRA and the 14th and 15th Amendments.

In 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the individual Black and Latino voters could not make a VRA claim together — even though they suffer from similar historic and present-day racial discrimination and vote together as a bloc. The Fifth Circuit allowed the voters to continue to challenge the 2021 map on their intentional discrimination claims, which remain pending today.

Meanwhile, in 2026, Galveston passed a new set of maps for Commissioners' Court, Justice of the Peace, and Constable — all in an attempt to moot the voters’ 2021 case against the county. But Galveston passed these maps after the 2026 primaries already occurred, effectively nullifying the primary election and the will of Galveston voters in violation of the Texas Constitution, U.S. Constitution, and the Texas Election Code. Campaign Legal Center, the UCLA Voting Rights Project, and individual voters are challenging the 2026 maps in the Texas Supreme Court to force Galveston to comply with state and federal law and honor the primary election already held.