AUSTIN (WBAP/KLIF News) – North Texans are invited to join the League of Women Voters Texas’ virtual Lobby Day over the weekend.
This free webinar is a replacement for the traditional event due to COVID-19, activists and concerned citizens typically gather at the state capitol to discuss key issues affecting Texas with elected officials.
LWVT President Grace Chimene said they’re hoping that voting form bills like the HR1, the For the People Act Bill, restoring the Voting Rights Act and fair redistricting with the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act get passed.
She said some of the organization’s key issues are redistricting and its impact on communities of color this legislative session.
“Because the state legislature is responsible for the process, it often becomes skewed based on what party is in power,” said Chimene.
She notes that in Texas, most counties lean Republican and gerrymandering helps the party in more diverse parts of the state.
“They take a little bit of an urban community of color and then they add it to a huge rural area so that it is skewed more toward voting for somebody that will represent more of the rural community instead of this,” she said. “The League would like the elected officials to actually not draw the lines for their own district. We feel like it should be done by an independent redistricting committee but that’s not how it is done in Texas.”
Gerrymandering is an issue that has been raised by members of both parities. The next redistricting process in Texas is slated for 2031.
In addition to the League’s own experts, participants will hear from a trio of speakers; Michael Lee from the Brennan Center for Justice, Victoria DeFrancesco-Soto from UT Austin LBJ School of Public Policy and Melanye Price from Prairieview A&M University.
Chimene said the group is hoping for a large turnout despite the virtual twist this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic because public input from uninvited citizens isn’t allowed in the state legislature right now.
“By not allowing public input or virtual testimony during this pandemic, we believe it is decreasing public input and that is not a good thing in our Texas Legislature,” she said.
The move is part of several new policies adopted by lawmakers ahead of the 87th Legislative Session to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The event is on Saturday from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Click here for more information.
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