"Stop Voter Suppression Forum" Saturday March 7th

Parking (0.00 / 0)

It's going to be a busy weekend for events around the Erwin Center for the UIL girls state basketball tournament, so expect lots around UT and the Erwin center to be busy.

Here's the link to the parking maps page for UT.

And here's another one for the Bob Bullock Museum area.

Just be prepared to do some walking.

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by: sonia @ Fri Mar 06, 2009 at 15:18:53 PM UTC

Here's an even better link (0.00 / 0)

Especially if you intend to down a few beers, as I'll sure do.

Go here: http://capmetro.org/planner/?t...

And then type in Scholz's address, and you'll get a chart of all the buses serving the area. And you'll save money on parking.

Too weird to be a Texan, too Texan to live anywhere else.

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by: ernesttubb @ Fri Mar 06, 2009 at 16:11:48 PM UTC

Thanks for the tip (0.00 / 0)

Of course taking a bus is much better.

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by: sonia @ Fri Mar 06, 2009 at 16:27:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks for all your hard work Sonia! (3.00 / 1)

This issue is absolutely critical to anyone who cares about Democracy in Texas. Sonia and other members of this coalition have been fighting these voter suppression proposals session after session and are THE reason this hasn't become law yet.

This year, the fight is crucial. The coalition needs as many voices and volunteers as possible to learn and understand the issue so that we can be well-armed when we talk to legislators.

So come on out Saturday and learn how YOU can make a difference on this issue. The future of Texas is literally at stake.

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by: Amy Everhart @ Fri Mar 06, 2009 at 16:53:16 PM UTC

can someone please (0.00 / 0)

explain to me (without using the words "racism" or "discrimination") on why checking ID is not good policy when at the polls. The Supreme Court has already ruled that you must present ID to a police officer upon request, and I believe it's Texas law that everyone over 18 must have a State Identification Card if not a driver's license.

I don't believe we should have to present ID, but that's just my paranoid-privacy-constitutional opinion. But I still need to hear an argument. Based on law and legal rulings shouldn't minorities, the elderly, and rural folks still have to possess identification?  

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by: nowayjose @ Fri Mar 06, 2009 at 19:18:40 PM UTC

How about cost versus benefit? (5.00 / 2)

But first let me correct your assumption that we don't check ID at the polls now.  We do. Texas is an identification required to vote state.  There are still several states that allow voters to vote simply by signing their poll books.

I know you meant photo identification at the polls, so back to that.

#1) Cost.  What is the balance of cost versus benefit? How much is the state willing to spend to make sure elections are fair and honest and at the same time make sure that all eligible voters get their votes counted?

Attorney General Greg Abbott conducted a very exhaustive and expensive study to find voter fraud in Texas.  He didn't find much.

Texas attorney general's two-year effort fails to unravel large-scale voter-fraud schemes 5/18/2008
AUSTIN - More than two years ago, Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott pledged to root out what he called an epidemic of voter fraud in Texas.

He established a special unit in his office, tapped a $1.4 million federal crime-fighting grant and dispatched investigators.

Since then, Mr. Abbott has prosecuted 26 cases - all against Democrats, and almost all involving blacks or Hispanics, a review by The Dallas Morning News shows.

It certainly doesn't appear to be "rampant".  There are over 13,000 registered voters in Texas.

The cost to the state is real taxpayer dollars. And all this at a time when everyone is concerned about budgets.  The state as well as and individuals and families.  Times are pretty tough economically.

A similar bill from the last session had a fiscal cost of about $3.3 million dollars over a 5 year period.  And the costs would be recurring yearly costs, since every year a certain number of people would request a free ID for the purpose of voting.  And that does not include the additional training costs and education costs that counties would have to incur.  That fiscal note was just a note for the state's portion.

If someone is really intent on committing voter fraud, how hard do you think it is to get a fake photo ID?  

Remember the person who is going to "verify" your identity will be the poll worker.  What kind of training costs are reasonable to incur to make sure poll workers get sufficient training to recognize the valid forms of photo ID.  

What if you have a middle initial but you didn't register that way.  What if your photo ID is over 10 years old and you've grown a mustache or lost a lot of weight.  Are you confident that a poll worker is going to get enough training to make that call? Otherwise your vote ends up in the provisional ballot pile.

Texas already rejects about 75% of provisional ballots and this additional hurdle will create thousands more. In the 2008 presidential election 42,000 Texans went to the polls thinking they were registered or that they were on the rolls in their precinct and were forced to cast a provisional ballot.  Only 9,444 of them eventually counted.  Texas is one of the states with the highest rate of rejections for provisional ballots.

Many reading this board are students and students may be one of the populations that ends up in the provisional ballot pile.  If you have an out of state driver's license, that is not an acceptable photo ID for the purpose of this bill.  You will need then need two other forms of acceptable documentation.  

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by: sonia @ Fri Mar 06, 2009 at 20:12:06 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Correction to the number of registered voters in Texas (3.00 / 1)

I meant to say 13,000,000 not 13,000 for the number of voters in Texas.

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by: sonia @ Fri Mar 06, 2009 at 20:14:22 PM UTC