Case 5:11-cv-00360-OLG-JES-XR Document 570

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS SAN ANTONIO DIVISION SHANNON PEREZ, ET AL., Plaintiffs VS. Civil Action No. 11-CV-360-OLG-JES-XR [Lead Case] STATE OF TEXAS, ET AL., Defendants. ______________________________ MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS, (MALC) Plaintiff, VS. Civil Action No. 11-CV-361 OLG-JES-XR [Consolidated Case] STATE OF TEXAS, ET AL., Defendants. ______________________________ TEXAS LATINO REDISTRICTING TASK FORCE, ET AL., Plaintiffs, VS. Civil Action No. 11-CV-490-OLG-JES-XR [Consolidated Case] RICK PERRY, Defendant. ______________________________ MARGARITA V. QUESADA, ET AL., Plaintiffs, VS. Civil Action No. 11-CV-592-OLG-JES-XR [Consolidated Case] RICK PERRY, ET AL., Defendants. ______________________________ -1-

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JOHN T. MORRIS, Plaintiff, VS. STATE OF TEXAS, ET AL., Defendants. ______________________________ EDDIE RODRIQUEZ, ET. AL., Plaintiffs, VS. RICK PERRY, ET. AL. Defendants. ______________________________ WENDY DAVIS, ET AL., Plaintiffs VS. RICK PERRY, ET AL., Defendants. ______________________________

Civil Action No. 11-CV-615-OLG-JES-XR [Consolidated Case] Civil Action No. 11-CV-635-OLG-JES-XR [Consolidated Case] Civil Action No. 11-CV-788-OLG-JES-XR [Consolidated Case]

PARTIES' RESPONSE TO THE COURTS DECEMBER 22, 2011 ORDER TO THE HONORABLE JUDGES OF SAID COURT: COMES NOW, the Texas Democratic Party, Boyd Richie in his capacity as Chair of the Texas Democratic Party, Shannon Perez, Gregory Tamez, Margarita V. Quesada,

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Romeo Munoz, Marc Veasey, Jane Hamilton, Lyman King, John Jenkins, Debbie Allen, Sandra Puente, Jamaal Smith, Kathleen Maria Shaw, Wendy Davis, Marc Veasey, Pat Pangburn, Frances DeLeon, Dorothy DeBose, Sarah Joyner, Vicky Bargas, Roy Brooks, The State of Texas, Rick Perry, in his official capacity as Governor of the State of Texas, David Dewhurst, in his official capacity as Lieutenant Governor of the State of Texas; Joe Straus, in his official capacity as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, Hope Andrade, in her official capacity as Secretary of the State of Texas, Mexican American Legislative Caucus, Texas House of Representatives, Eddie Rodriguez, Milton Gerard Washington, Bruce Elfant, Balakumar Pandian, Alex Serna, Sandra Serna, Betty F. Lopez, David Gonzalez, Beatrice Saloma, Lionor Sorola-Pohlman; Eliza Alvarado; Juanita Valdez-Cox; Josey Martinez; Nina Jo Baker; Travis County and City of Austin, and Steve Munisteri in his official capacity as Chair of the Texas Republican Party, and files this Response to the Courts December 22, 2011 Order and would respectfully show this Honorable Court the following: I. Over the last several days, counsel for the political parties, the litigants, the Texas Municipal League (TML), the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas, and the Texas Conference of Urban Counties (the county associations) have exchanged numerous e-mails seeking to address the county associations recent complaints lodged against the April 3, 2012 primary election schedule ordered by this Court two weeks ago after extensive consultation between the political parties and the election administrators -3-

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in the five largest counties in Texas. Counsel for the litigants, the state, the political parties, and the county associations participated in a conference call Monday, December 26, 2011. The county associations are unwilling to propose any election schedules or to propose any changes to the current court-adopted schedule. Instead, the county associations only wish to lodge objections against the court-adopted schedule for an April 3, 2012 primary. The political parties specifically asked the county associations if there were any statutes that needed to be waived or if any action by the Secretary of State is needed to approve more vendors to help alleviate their concerns in an attempt to meet this Courts Order and provide the Court with a draft order modifying the court-approved schedule, if needed. The county associations were unwilling to provide any proposals to address their concerns. Given this reality, the litigants to this case as well as the political parties are unable craft a schedule that can address the county associations concerns at this time. There is disagreement between the political parties and the county associations as to whether there are legitimate complaints to the ordered election schedule that need to be addressed or that can be addressed under the circumstances. It is the opinion of the parties to this advisory that an agreement with the county associations may be possible once the district maps are available and in the event the county associations counsel are willing to contribute a proposal or set of proposals that would alleviate their clients concerns. Therefore, counsel for the parties to this advisory propose no further action regarding any potential modification of the ordered election schedule occur until such time as districts are known. Once the districts are known, the Court is respectfully -4-

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requested to then enter an order requiring any party who objects to the election schedule as constituted to exchange a complete proposed election schedule with the political parties and the litigants. In the event that objections and schedules are lodged, the parties should then be required to confer again in order to see if any agreement can be reached. Counsel below attempted to prepare an advisory that could be agreed to by all litigants and county organizations but was unsuccessful. As a result, this advisory is offered on behalf of those parties referenced above. Dated this 28th day of December, 2011. Respectfully submitted,

By:

/s/ Chad W. Dunn Chad W. Dunn Attorney In Charge State Bar No. 24036507 General Counsel TEXAS DEMOCRATIC PARTY BRAZIL & DUNN K. Scott Brazil State Bar No. 02934050 4201 FM 1960 West, Suite 530 Houston, Texas 77068 Telephone: (281) 580-6310 Facsimile: (281) 580-6362 duncha@sbcglobal.net ATTORNEY FOR TEXAS DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND BOYD RICHIE, IN HIS CAPACITY AS CHAIR OF THE TEXAS DEMOCRATIC PARTY

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on December 28, 2011, I electronically filed the foregoing document(s) with the Clerk of the United States District Court, Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, using the electronic case filing system of the Court. The electronic case filing system sent a Notice of Electronic Filing to attorneys of record who have consented in writing to accept this Notice as service of this document by electronic means. All attorneys who have not yet registered to receive NEFs have been served by fax and/or by first class regular mail, postage prepaid and addressed as follows: David Escamilla Travis County Asst. Attorney P. O. Box 1748 Austin, TX 78767 By Fax Only: 512-854-9316

/s/ Chad W. Dunn Chad W. Dunn

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