| Voter Suppression Legislation (Voter ID) is likely to hit the TX House Floor Thursday or Friday for a vote.
I've analyzed this from many angles, and each time it ends up within 1 vote - either for or against.
One of the big deciding factors is how much the bill might be amended before the final vote. That is still TBD.
We need everyone across the state to make a quick call to their reps and ask them to please vote AGAINST Voter ID.
All of our local Travis County Dem Reps are voting against it, and most Democrats are voting against it, but not all (latest #'s are 3 or 4 Dems can go either way. My sources report that Rep. Farabee will vote for it, yikes! Heflin voted for it in committee, but sources report he's on the fence and could go either way).
Some Repubs are voting against it (likely that Delwin Jones and Tommy Merritt will both do the right thing and vote against it...please thank them for this!!).
If you live outside of Travis County, PLEASE call your rep today and ask him/her to vote AGAINST voter ID!
Below is a msg from Terri Burke, Exec Dir ACLU released this morning:
Here are just a few reasons it's a bad bill:
Voter ID is an idea allegedly designed to eliminate voter impersonation. Except our state doesn't have a voter impersonation problem. Not one case of in-person voter fraud has been prosecuted in the state of Texas. The worst voter fraud problems have occurred with mail-in absentee ballots and this bill doesn't address those issues.
Voters without the required ID could cast provisional ballots, which would be counted later after the proof of identity is provided. Already, Texas has the highest rate of UNCOUNTED provisional ballots in the nation. What makes us think more provisional ballots added to the total will lead to more being counted?
It will require substantial expenditures by your county that will only be slightly compensated by the state. Other states that have implemented Voter ID have shown no proven benefits so why should we waste our taxpayer dollars in these tough economic times?
Voter ID is a bad idea. It's bad for Texas. It's bad for Texans.
Best,
David Kobierowski |
