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Texas GOP advances flood of bills to make voting harder [1]

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Date: 2023-04-18  

Another bill Republicans passed in the Senate makes illegally voting a felony once more—two years after lawmakers had reduced it to a misdemeanor. Opponents argue the measure would apply even in certain instances where a person doesn't realize they're ineligible. One such example is the widely publicized case of Crystal Mason, a Black woman who was sentenced to five years in prison for casting a provisional ballot in 2016—that wasn't even counted—while she was on supervised release following incarceration; Mason's appeal remains ongoing.

Relatedly, GOP senators advanced yet another bill that would create an election police force similar to one that Gov. Ron DeSantis established in Florida. Both of these proposals operate under the guise of punishing voter fraud, but numerous studies have shown that such fraud is extremely rare. Instead, both measures have the potential to intimidate eligible voters by making them think they could be criminally prosecuted like Mason was.

Demonstrating the bad faith of their claims about voter fraud, Republican senators have also passed a bill that would let Texas withdraw from the Electronic Registration and Information Center, a bipartisan, multi-state partnership that has helped dozens of states maintain accurate voting rolls and prevent double voting by removing voters who have moved or died. Several Republican-run states have recently led an exodus from ERIC, citing various conspiracy theories, but their true motivation may be ERIC's requirement that member states send voter registration materials to unregistered eligible voters.

Another bill Republicans passed out of a Senate committee would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Federal law currently bars such a requirement in federal elections, and Texas voters currently need only swear to their eligibility under penalty of perjury. However, states can still impose this kind of barrier for state and local elections, and a future Republican Congress and president could even greenlight it for federal elections, too. If this bill becomes law, it may significantly hinder voter registration drives because few citizens carry documents such as a passport day to day.

Finally, an additional set of bills aim to subvert the election process specifically in Democratic-leaning Harris County, which at 4.7 million people is the state's largest and contains most of Houston. These bills, which we recently examined in depth, could enable the secretary of state to invalidate election results in Harris County and order a rerun based on a vaguely worded provision about alleged voting problems that could be ripe for abuse.

Expect further action soon: The legislative session ends on May 29, and since Republicans firmly control both chambers and the governor's office under Gov. Greg Abbott, some or all of these proposals could become law.

It's never too early to start talking about the House! Joining us on this week's edition of The Downballot is Inside Elections' Jacob Rubashkin, who offers his thoughts on the overall playing field and a wide range of key contests. Jacob explains why Lauren Boebert might have an easier time of it in her likely rematch, how some candidates have a "special sauce" that allows them to keep winning difficult districts, and why he thinks Mary Peltola is favored for re-election despite Alaska's persistent red lean.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/18/2164583/-Texas-GOP-advances-flood-of-bills-to-make-voting-harder

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