Voters to Texas Democrats: "Stand By Your Principles"

by: Matt Glazer

Tue May 26, 2009 at 04:00 PM CDT

Texas Democrats have stood up in fights like this before.

In 2003, Tom DeLay, Tom Craddick, Rick Perry, Karl Rove and others fought for mid-decade redistricting to redraw congressional districts.  

Democrats stood opposed to this plan because it disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of voters.  

Of course, the Republican Party either didn't care or didn't believe the argument.  

Democrats had no choice.  Nearly every Democrat joined together and broke quorum to head to Ardmore Oklahoma.  Republicans called Democrats names.  They said Democrats would pay for this in the election.  They said voters wouldn't care and they said the plan was fair and legitimate.

Republican's eventually succeeded in getting their Republican maps.  They disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of Texans. The Supreme Court ended up getting involved in this debate.  Nearly 3 years later, the Supreme Court ruled the Republican drawn map was unconstitutional.  In United States Supreme Court in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, the Supreme Court upheld a state could redistrict between censuses, but struck down Congressional District 23 as racial gerrymandering in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

Democrats were proven right.

Not only did the court agree with the 52 Democrats who went to Oklahoma but Democrats have made substantial gains in the Texas House since protect your right to vote.  Since 2004, Democrats have gone from less than 60 Democrats in the House to 74.

Of the 52 Democrats who went to Ardmore, only one appears to have lost a general election. That one was John P. Mabry, Jr. (Waco) who lost to Charles "Doc" Anderson in a heavily Republican district.

As one friend concisely stated, since 2004, only one non-freshman Democrat has lost in November. All in all, I'd say that's a record to be proud of.

I agree with them.

When Richard Raymond spoke passionately today about why he stands opposed to the Republican backed voter suppression legislation, he can stand knowing history is on his side.  Richard Raymond and all of the Democrats working to protect your right to vote can know, Texans stand behind them in the only poll that matters.

Fixing Texan Democracy?

by: Michael Hurta

Wed Mar 18, 2009 at 07:45 AM CDT

So here we see members of the legislature arguing for countless hours in defense of America's greatest ideal.  At least our representatives exude patriotism for state and country.  The Republican leaders insist we make this change, however, as if Texan democracy needs a fix.  Last I checked; really?  The legislature only stands in session for five months, so if we want to hijack that important time for one issue, it should be an issue of extreme urgency.

But I do not perceive any crucial problems with Texan democracy.  A simple observation of elected officials will tell you that.  In a Republican-majority state, every statewide office holder has a GOP membership.  Not discounting the growing presence of Democrats, though; the House of Representatives is almost split down the middle, and almost every major city has a Democrat majority in their respective city councils.  The only argument you can make in favor of the sickness of our democracy is the lack of high profile Hispanic politicians, but I have not heard one Republican contend that SB 362 alleviates that worry.

Todd Smith, David Dewhurst, etc. might maintain that the voters want Voter ID requirements.  I guess that's true, but did the Founding Fathers listen to the people when determining how best government should listen to the people?  That just doesn't make any sense.  It makes even less sense when over 40% of Texan voters misstated the current rules on Voter ID, suggesting they are not informed enough to have a fully evolved opinion.  This is why, of course, we listen to the experts: a technique in which Representative Smith, at least, finds difficult.

Even if the UT poll found 90 percent support for Voter IDs, though, the poll found more important numbers (.pdf).   The poll's 21st question asked the open-ended query, "What would you say is the most important problem facing the state of Texas today?"  Nowhere in the document, however, do I see a response along the lines of "Integrity of Voting."  Even if every "Miscellaneous" response related to Voter ID (and that obviously is not the case), three other issue would be more important by more Texans by wide margins.  For this reason, it would make more sense for Republicans to champion racist immigration laws than racist voting laws.

Instead, our state's leadership is completely wasting our time.  According to the poll numbers, Texans would definitely prefer they tackle the problems or education, immigration, and the economy.  They probably would also easily prefer work on the energy industry, health care, and Texas' lack of true political leadership.  Texans as a whole are apparently more in touch with the health of our democracy than the Republicans are - they realize there is no problem!  And when the experts are against the Republican Party's stance on this, too, one has to wonder what the hell they are thinking.  The current session only has two and a half months left before saying goodbye for another year and a half.  Instead of squandering their hours spent in the capitol, can our state's leaders instead try to control the rising cost of my tuition, distribute the federal stimulus money productively, and become less addicted to oil?  

There were reasons epitomized by the governance of Tom Craddick that Democrats made electoral gains.  Mr. Craddick no longer sits on that pedestal of power, but those reasons are still there.  Republicans still seem to screw up our government.

Voter ID Foolishness

by: Blue_in_Guadalupe

Mon Mar 09, 2009 at 10:24 PM CDT

The folks at the TABC routinely run classes for liquor store and bar employees where they hand out a dozen or so confiscated driver's licenses and ask the attendees to identify which are forgeries. Not only do most of the attendees get it wrong, the instructors readily admit that they often can't tell just be looking at them either. If college kids can produce or acquire high quality forgeries that easily don't you think a determined fraudulent voter would do the same.

The Texas Senate has more important business to attend to than fixing a non-existent problem by creating hurdles for low-income and elderly voters with a process that even trained professionals can't guarantee they can execute consistently.

Voter Suppression Legislation Synopsis (Voter ID SB 362)

by: David Kobierowski

Mon Mar 09, 2009 at 11:31 AM CDT

Here are answers to some FAQs:

According to Sen. Kirk Watson's March 9th Watson Wire:

"this bill targets far too many of us by declaring a crisis that doesn't exist and adding new burdens that for some will be expensive and difficult.

This bill makes it harder for honest people to vote".

Q - What should I be aware of if I want to testify on SB 362?
A - Signing in for testimony will start at 8:00am Tuesday morning.  The "Committee of the Whole" will hear invited and public testimony on SB 362.  Interested parties may appear and provide written or oral testimony by
submitting a witness affirmation card. Persons wishing to submit written testimony must provide 40 copies with their witness affirmation card. Witness affirmation cards will be available at 8:00 a.m. on the day of the
hearing at the Witness Registration Desk located in front of the Senate Chamber on the 2nd Floor of the Capitol.
Witnesses and the public are invited to observe the proceedings of the Committee from the Senate Gallery on the 3rd Floor. Witnesses who have registered to testify will have their names called by the Chair at least 5
minutes before they are scheduled to appear. As names are called, witnesses should check in at the Witness Registration Desk for admission into the Senate Chamber for their testimony.

This Tuesday, March 10th starting at 9am, the Texas Senate will hold a hearing as the Committee of the Whole on SB 362 - Fraser and Estes, a voter suppression bill that would require strict identification requirements for voters at the polls.  According to Brennan Center reports, this legislation has the potential to disenfranchise as many as 2 million Texans.  Also, 8% of voters that have registered in Texas since 2006 were unable to provide a driver's license or state issued ID number.    

How you can help:

1. Contact your Senator.   Call, email, or fax your Senator and tell them you are opposed to Voter Suppression Legislation, specifically SB 362 by Fraser and Estes.  

2. Register your opposition to this bill.  Please stop by the Senate chambers during the debate on the 10th and sign a card against SB 362.  Every citizen has the right to register their position on legislation during committee hearings.  Go to the Senate chambers and tell the Senate Clerk that you want to "drop a card" against SB 362.  Fill out the form and check the box that you are opposed to this legislation.  The Senate Clerk will begin taking forms at 8:00am.

3. Give oral testimony against this bill.  If you would like to deliver testimony to the Senate you may do so.  Public testimony will begin in the afternoon and could run through the night, so be prepared to spend the entire day at the capitol if you intend to give oral testimony.  Also, you need to bring 40 copies of your statement with you.  You can sign up for testimony beginning at 8:00am with the Senate Clerk in the Senate chambers, keep in mind there may be many people wanting to give testimony so the earlier you sign in the better chance you will have of being toward the top of the list.    

4. Attend the hearing in support of the Senators fighting this legislation.  There will be a lot of different groups at the Capitol on Tuesday to show their support or opposition to this legislation.  Please attend if you can.  You can watch from the Senate gallery or the Capitol Auditorium (floor E1.).  The groups in support of this legislation are holding a rally at 10am on the South Steps of the Capitol; you are encouraged to attend with signs that show your opposition to this legislation.  Please be respectful while in the Senate Chambers and gallery though.  

5. Educate people across the state about this issue.  Please write op-eds and letters to the editors regarding the potential impact of this legislation (See information below or email txelectionreform@yahoo.com if you need additional information).  Write articles for local newsletters and papers.  Please forward this email to everyone you know.  Texans need to know the REAL impact of this legislation.  

6. Stay engaged and be prepared to do this all over again when this legislation is passed from the Senate to the House. Once this passes the Senate we will need to start helping the Representatives defeat this legislation.  This could happen in a matter of weeks after it passes the Senate, so be prepared to start calling your Representatives soon.  

Talking Points

Voter Impersonation Fraud Doesn't Exist - despite spending millions of dollars to investigate and stop voter fraud, the Attorney General of Texas has never prosecuted a single case of a voter impersonating another voter at the polls.

Voter ID measures propose an extra hurdle for many Texans that is reminiscent of the poll tax.  The working poor and senior citizens are less likely to have a photo ID - or the time or ability to get one. In 2006, a study by the non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice found that 18% of citizens 65 and over, 25% of African American citizens, and 15% of voters earning under $35,000/year don't have government-issued photo identification.

Voter ID does not address most common election fraud or other more common election related problems.  Thousands of eligible Texans are denied the right to register to vote and many eligible voters are turned away from the polls every election.  We need to spend time ensuring that every eligible Texan has the right to vote, not wasting time and resources on addressing something that does not exist.  

We have much bigger priorities in the State- healthcare, tuition deregulation, and economy.  All of these issues deserve time and resources of the Senate.  These issues impact every Texan every day.  

This legislation will cost the State and Counties to implement.  Loss of revenue from issuing free DL (no ID is free, the State has to pay for it and the potential voter will have to spend time and money obtaining the documents needed to obtain a Drivers License)
Poll worker training and Voter Education Costs.

As many as 2 million Texans could be disenfranchised:
Women, students, seniors that don't have a driver's license, recently married or divorced women, anyone with a name on the ID that does not match the voter registration exactly, and many others.

Where do I go?

Senate Chamber Location in the Texas Capitol

Senate Chamber Texas Capitol Location - 2E.8 (2nd floor East Wing)

Senate Gallery - 3E.5 (3rd floor East Wing)

Where do I park?

Parking -Texas Capitol, Capitol Extension and Capitol Visitors Center
Parking is available in the Capitol Visitors Parking Garage at 1201 San Jacinto located between Trinity and San Jacinto Streets at 12th and 13th streets. Parking is free for the first two hours and $.75 for each half hour thereafter (maximum daily charge: $6.00); accessible parking is available.  More information available from State Preservation Board's website.

Lastly, if you're on facebook, you can sign up to the "Texans Against Voter Suppression Legislation" page for additional info.

This is likely the most important legislation that will be addressed during the 81st Legislative Session.

I hope y'all can help preserve democracy and stop this proposed voter suppresion legislation.

Best,
David Kobierowski