(Rumor has it that the Senate will hear HB 218 as soon as tomorrow. - promoted by Matt Glazer)
*quote from Rep. Dunnam on the House floor during the Tuesday debate on Voter ID
The underlying motivation behind the Voter ID Bills, HB 218 and HB 626, is to intimidate minority and elderly voters who typically vote differently from the way the sponsors of these bills want them to. If you have been following our website and watching and listening to the debate, and if you have been reading the editorials in papers all over Texas, you understand that this is a "solution in search of a problem." These bills are targeted toward voters of a certain kind.
I believe the authors and movers of this bill have an agenda to stay in power and maintain contol of our state and national government, and this intimidation is one of their tools.
I do not intend to imply that everyone who thinks these bills sound reasonable or thinks we should make sure only citizens vote are racists or classists. But the forces behind this legislation (which is also being promoted in other states) certainly do feel that way.
Let me say this one more time as clearly as possible.
There is no mass voter fraud problem in Texas. There are no cases of voter impersonation that have been claimed or proven. There is no effort to steal the elections in Texas by getting people who aren’t citizens or who aren’t eligible to cast votes for anyone! There are already laws in Texas that require a voter to show an ID when they vote in Texas. These laws are working! We do not have any such problem!
But there is voter intimidation in Texas, and there have been situations where people have been turned away from the polls or have been forced to vote with a provisional ballot (of which 20% or fewer are counted). Texas has been and continues to remain subject to the Voting Rights Act because of our history of voter intimidation and voting rights abuses.
Maybe that is why Texas is second in population but only fifth in the number of voters who do vote.
Creating barriers to voting, no matter how well they are disguised, is still the wrong direction for us to take in Texas.
Knowing the insidious nature of this bill, I hope, will change your view if you have been supporting it. If not, so be it. As I said at the top, reasonable people can disagree. We at TCAN will continue to call ’em as we see ’em and work to protect Texans from an anti-democratic agenda and will champion reform where needed to ensure the ethical, electoral, and democratic process that is guaranteed to all of us under the Constitutions of the United States and Texas.
Sincerely,
John Courage, Chair
True Courage Action Network |
