The Texas Supreme Court on Friday, Aug. 14, refused to block Galveston County from using newly drawn voting districts in the November general election, but the legal fight is far from over for Clear Lake Shores voters who could face different constable and justice of the peace representation than they had in the March primary.

The court denied the emergency petition "without prejudice and without regard to the merits of Relators' arguments," directing the case to a lower court first, according to Democracy Docket. That "without prejudice" language means plaintiffs can refile their claims. Attorney Bernadette Reyes, voting rights counsel at the UCLA Voting Rights Project, confirmed to ABC13 that a new emergency petition has been filed in the Texas Court of Appeals.

As we reported Aug. 7, the all-Republican Galveston County Commissioners Court unanimously approved the new precinct map at a special meeting on June 29. The map redraws boundaries for commissioner, constable and justice of the peace precincts, aligning all three to the same lines and expanding Precinct 3 northward toward League City and Friendswood. Critics say the change further dilutes the voting strength of Black and Hispanic residents in the county.

The practical effect: Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Billy Williams, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, will now run in the general election for Precinct 4. Meanwhile, Precinct 4 JP Kathleen McCumber, a Republican not up for reelection in November, will finish the last two years of her term in Precinct 3, the Houston Chronicle reported. Some voters moved to a new precinct won't have a constable or JP race on their ballot until 2028.

"You have people that have voted in a primary for one precinct that either will have to vote for another precinct, which they have not been able to participate in a primary for, or they're in a precinct where there is no election this year, and they don't get to participate in any general election," Reyes told ABC13.

Precinct 3 Constable Derreck Rose and two registered voters, Wilma Green and Diane Merchant, filed the original emergency petition on Aug. 4 through the Campaign Legal Center and the UCLA Voting Rights Project. They argued the mid-election map change violates equal protection under both the U.S. and Texas constitutions and the Texas Election Code.

Galveston County's legal team pushed back. Attorney Joseph Nixon of the Public Interest Legal Foundation called the challenge "a desperate ploy" and said the county redrew lines for partisan reasons, not racial ones. County Judge Mark Henry has been blunt about the map's purpose, saying in a statement reported by The Texan: "I ran on the promise of being a fiscal conservative and turning Galveston County Republican. This map accomplishes just that."

The state case runs parallel to the federal Petteway lawsuit, filed in 2022, which challenged Galveston County's 2021 redistricting map. On Aug. 7, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown denied the county's motion to dismiss that case as moot, ruling that intentional discrimination claims should proceed.

University of Houston political science lecturer Nancy Sims warned that ballots for November are likely being printed as of mid-August, leaving courts a narrow window to act. No hearing date has been announced for the new emergency petition in the Texas Court of Appeals.