Galveston County voters who cast ballots in March under one set of precinct boundaries will head to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 3 under a different map, after a state appeals court rejected a challenge to the county's mid-year redistricting. The new boundaries were adopted at a June 29 meeting held at the Galveston County Annex in League City.

The 14th Court of Appeals denied a petition for writ of mandamus filed by Precinct 3 Constable Derreck Rose and residents Wilma Green and Diane Merchant, The Galveston County Daily News reported. Justices Brad Hart, Tonya McLaughlin and Maritza Antú issued the ruling Aug. 20.

The decision means the county can use the precinct boundaries commissioners approved 5-0 on June 29. Those boundaries affect two county commissioner precincts, three justice of the peace precincts and constable precincts on the November ballot.

The court found the challengers failed to meet the high legal bar required for mandamus relief. "Relators have not met their burden of proof that no disputed facts exist and the duty they seek to compel is clear," the court wrote. The ruling did not address whether the post-primary map change itself is lawful.

Attorney Neil G. Baron, who represents Rose, told The Daily News the group has already filed another petition with the Texas Supreme Court. "If they can redistrict after the primary, what's to stop them from redistricting at any time before an election?" Baron said. "It doesn't seem fair to the voters."

Rose claims he was personally affected as both a voter and an elected official, since his commissioner, constable and justice of the peace precincts were all changed by the June map, according to court filings reported by Houston Public Media.

The legal fight traces back to 2021, when commissioners redrew precincts after the 2020 census and eliminated the county's only majority-minority district. Civil rights groups including local NAACP and LULAC chapters challenged that map in federal court. Commissioners then voted unanimously June 29 to adopt new boundaries, with County Judge Mark Henry making the motion and Commissioner Hank Dugie seconding it.

When commissioners adopted the map in June, Henry said it would align constable, justice of the peace and commissioner precincts, calling it fiscally conservative. He said the map would "turn Galveston County Republican," according to Houston Public Media.

Challengers argue the mid-cycle redistricting delays some voters' right to cast a ballot for two years by shifting them into precincts that won't vote again until 2028. Sarah Chen, an attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project, told Houston Public Media on Aug. 18 that the change "creates so much confusion and chaos" for Galveston County voters.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, who is overseeing the separate federal voting rights case, rejected the county's Aug. 10 motion to dismiss that lawsuit as moot. Brown called the county's timing "highly suspicious" and noted officials "did not have to wait until between the primary and general elections this cycle to change the map."

Attorneys for the county could not be reached for comment before publication of the Daily News report.

Court records list Sept. 4 as the deadline for a rehearing request at the 14th Court of Appeals. The Texas Supreme Court has not scheduled a ruling on the challengers' latest petition.