'The right to vote is sacred': Harris County commissioners file voting rights lawsuit

The attorney representing two Republicans on the Harris County Commissioners Court in a voting rights lawsuit recently told a Houston-area newspaper that the 18-year-old lead plaintiff is motivation enough for him.

Ranya Khanoyan, a senior active in ROTC at Klein Cain High School, cast her first vote during the most recent general election, according to a Houston Chronicle news story. Should a redistricting plan passed by Harris County Commission earlier this year stand, Khanoyan won't be able to vote in a county commission race again until 2024 because she will have been moved from Precinct 4 to Precinct 3, the latter not expect to have another election for about three years.

Attorney William A. "Andy" Taylor, who represents Khanoyan and the other plaintiffs, told the Houston Chronicle that he can't have that.

"I'm not willing to look Ranya who just turned 18 in the face and say, 'You know, sweetie, you're going to have to wait til 2024 to vote,'" Taylor said. "The right to vote is sacred."

Khanoyan, who is studying business prep, is active in chess club and competes in discus and shot put, told the Houston Chronicle that the lawsuit isn’t about political partisanship, for her.

"I'm an independent," she said.

She does want to vote again sooner rather than later.

For two other plaintiffs in the case, Harris County commissioners Jack Cagle and Tom Ramsey, the redistricting plan and their lawsuit is very much a political issue. The two lone Republicans on the commission both lost ground in the redistricting plan, with Cagle's Precinct 4 redrawn in October to become majority Democrat.

Both said in a news conference earlier this week that their lawsuit with Khanoyan and two other plaintiffs, Alan Vera and David Lugo, is intended to halt the redistricting plan they say will effectively disenfranchise 1.1 million people next year.

Ramsey also explained his position in a Twitter post.

"I've joined a group of Harris County voters and Comm. Cagle filing suit in state civil district court today, alleging that the recent redistricting plan unconstitutionally strips more than 1.1 million of our neighbors of their legal right to vote in next year's elections," he said in his Tuesday, Nov. 16 Twitter post.

The case was filed earlier that day in Harris County District Court and has been assigned to Judge Dedra Davis.

Named defendants are Harris County and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. Not named in the case are Democrat County Commissioners Rodney Ellis and Adrian Garcia but Cagle and Ramsey have said both infringed on others' voting rights in passing the redistricting plan.

Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee has said the county's redistricting process has been open and thorough.

Ramsey was the only "no" vote when the county commission certified the county's most recent election result.