In 2007 two major bills hit the floor of the House and Senate. House Bills 626 and 218 would have instituted a modern day poll tax and restricted the rights for Texas citizens to have a say in who represents them.
Leadership from the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC) in the House and Mario Gallegos in the Senate defeated these Republican bills. And not surprisingly, a new study shows that legislation like this has had a dramatic impact on voting.
"It is incredibly clear how voter I.D. requirements disproportionately affect and suppress minorities," said Logan, professor of sociology. "This data shows that if voter I.D. policies had not been in place in 2004, voter turnout would have increased by more than 1.6 million...
There's not much more that needs to be said. The Republican continue to want as few people in the process as possible. They use fear tactics to sell it to the most racist of Texans and Americans, and put bad public policy ahead of positive solutions. As long as the House is lead by Tom Craddick and his cronies, racism, hate, and fear will dominate the public discourse.
(the debate starts again, for the third time. - promoted by Matt Glazer)
Vince, Kuff and EOW do a brilliant wrap up of yesterdays voter suppression shenanigans.
We are keeping a watchful eye on it.
UPDATE: HB 626 has been postponed until the end of the day... again... for the second time...
UPDATE: It seems the fix isn't a fix. The Secretary of State doesn't have any way to track citizenship. Why does King want the SOS to use a system that doesn't exist? How is it possible to call it a compromise when the proposal you submit isn't even possible?
According to Rep. Rafeal Anchia (D- Dallas), this will cause 1,000's of registered, legal voters that will be removed from the voter roll. In addition, the Secretary of State is saying they may not even be able to implement this program.
Let me plug the fact that Town Hall meetings, should your representatives have them, are excellent opportunities to directly question your elected officials on votes, authored legislation, or legislation that concerns you that they voted for. Get in their face! As BOR has been documenting all week, my personal concern and sole mission for today's Town Hall was to question Representative Smith about his vote in favor of House Bill 218. Otherwise know as the Voter Suppression Act of 2007.
I asked:
"Representative Smith you voted this week in favor of House Bill 218, which passed with a 76-68 vote. The bill is inappropriately named the Voter Identification Bill; it should be entitled the Voter Suppression Bill. If it becomes law this bill will disenfranchise elder seniors, minorities, and young people from exercising their constitutional right to vote, and you supported that. Why?"
Representative Todd Smith said directly:
"I did it because I'm Republican."
With a puzzled look, my fellow Democratic constituents and I essentially dropped our jaws to the floor. And he not only said it once,twice, but three times! The final time he basically insinuated that the Republican Party endorses voter suppression by stating:
"Listen, I'm a Republican, this was a Party line vote, and I uhhhh……voted appropriately as a result."
He went on to ho-hum about the intent of the bill was to keep individuals ineligible to vote away from the polls, which, by his own admission with his bizarre quote, is nothing more then BS.
"Voting is the most fundamental right in a democracy, and we should all be working to encourage more participation in fair elections free from fraud and intimidation instead of using tax dollars to promote a partisan agenda." Chairman Boyd Richie
The "Voter ID" agenda is part of a state-by-state effort orchestrated by Karl Rove with the clear intention of suppressing the vote among certain groups of voters - seniors, college students, lower income voters and minorities - who typically vote Democratic.
Today is a clear example of how the Republican Party and the Democratic Party differ wildly in their ideology. The Republican's want to restrict voters. By offering House Bills 218 and 626, they want to make it harder for seniors, college students, low income Texans, and minorities to vote.
On a recent True Courage Action Network, a non-partisan non-profit conference call, it was revealed that the minimum cost, even for voters who have been voting for 20 years but maybe move, or get married and change names, will be roughly $20 for the certified copy of a both certificate. And, possibly as much as $90 if you are a naturalized citizen.
Here are the facts. HB 218 will require ALL voters to present a photo ID OR two forms of government approved non-photo ID.
HB 218 is one step closer to voter suppression and HB 626 is a giant leap towards a poll tax.
HB 626 would literally end voter registration drives and registration by mail as we know them today by requiring every person who registers to provide a certified copy (not a photocopy) of a birth certificate ($23), citizenship papers ($200) or a passport, mailed in a business reply envelope if not presented in person. By requiring a "certified" copy instead of a photocopy, the days of voter registration tables, door-to-door voter registration and registration by mail would be over.
(“People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote - a very different thing.” -- Walter H. Judd - promoted by Matt Glazer)
(with an extra big hat-tip to the 'cleanest' folks in politics: teri sperry and john courage at TCAN)
Quick, do you have your proof of citizenship on you? Do you even know what counts as proof? Would you be carrying it on you when you head to a music festival, a parade, or immunization day?
Well, certain House Republicans know this, and in an effort to combat unsubstantiated and fabricated `voter ID fraud,' the House Committee on Elections is moving on Wednesday to approve a bill which make it harder for people to become involved, or stay involved. These bills will do three things
* Require proof of citizenship PLUS an additional ID just to register, at the time of registration. * Require even long-term voters to re-register after moving, WITH proof of citizenship - even if they have been dutiful voters for years and years. * Require two forms of ID at the poll.
THIS WILL EFFECTIVELY KILL VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVES! CONTACT STATE REPS AND TELL THEM TO REJECT HB 218 and HB 626. CONTACT INFO BELOW THE FOLD.
