Editorial: Stop the steal of Texans’ election rights

All of the above, if they were actually to occur, would be serious examples of voter fraud. Good thing that in Texas, people are more likely to be struck by lightning than cheat at the polls.

But did any of these lesser-known examples of voter fraud occur to you? Voting at 8 p.m. Voting at a drive-thru polling place. Dropping off an absentee ballot in person rather than mailing it.

Those didn’t make your list? Don’t worry. They’re not fraud. They’re perfectly legal in Texas and many other states.

But they would all be banned under pending Texas legislation being pushed under the guise of ensuring “election integrity.”

In truth, these bills are the opposite of integrity. The only thing they are designed to ensure is the stranglehold Republicans have had on Texas government for more than 20 years.

From the Editorial Board

Rather than become a more inclusive party that actually appeals to young people and diverse communities, the Texas GOP has chosen another strategy to retain power: Stop More People From Voting.

To do that, they are throwing up every obstacle they can find, including, for instance, banning voting after 7 p.m. because that might allow an hourly worker who doesn’t have the luxury of voting over a long lunch to dash off after his shift and exercise his constitutional right to vote.

The “election integrity” legislation that Republicans are pushing this session is voter suppression plain and simple. The only thing that makes their efforts somewhat peculiar is that the bills have been deemed “emergency” legislation by top officials in a state that already has the most restrictive voting laws in the country — a state that wrote the book other states are now following on how to block access to the ballot box.

In a state that has plenty of emergencies — including, say, people freezing to death in their homes because the government can’t figure out how to keep civilization going during a predictable winter storm — it’s unclear how voting laws rise to that level.

And Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick know very well that they don’t. This legislation isn’t about steeling elections against voter fraud. It’s about just plain old stealing them.

The theft began long ago. A Texan wanting to exercise his or her civic duty encounters barriers every step of the way. In addition to Texas’ strict voter ID law, the state has no online registration system and has no same-day registration and voting option. Once registered, you could very well be dropped from the voter rolls through an aggressive partisan purge.

Texans who want to vote by mail need to be 65 or older or have an excuse and you cannot request a ballot online. If you make an error on your absentee ballot, you will not be informed until after the election. An honest mistake can lead to a criminal charge.

Some of the worst bills that aim to restrict voting include:

HB 61: A voter registration application must be in writing and signed by the applicant using ink on paper. An electronic signature or photocopied signature is not permitted.

HB 329: Would use Department of Public Safety and Department of Homeland Security data to confirm a voter’s citizenship status.

HB 335: If someone says they are disqualified from jury service because they are not a citizen, they will be dropped from the voter rolls.

HB 1026: Would do away with deputy voter registrars and use DPS data to confirm a voter’s citizenship status.

HB 1725: Absentee ballots can only be returned by mail. No in-person drop-off is allowed by the voter.

SB7: Limits operating hours at polling places, eliminates mega voting centers and prohibits drive-thru voting. Places additional requirements on volunteers and on disabled voters requesting an absentee ballot. Requires that any private donation to assist local election efforts more than $1,000 be approved by the secretary of state. Limits restrictions on poll watchers.

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This session’s crop of voting obstacles appear to have been inspired by the record-setting voter turnout Texas saw in the November election. Local officials in Harris County and other cities made great efforts to help people vote safely during the pandemic and people responded. So naturally, Republicans are wasting no time trying to outlaw nearly every method they employed.

“Almost all of the improvements in voting that were offered to try to deal with the pandemic are now being seen as things that shouldn’t go forward,” Cinde Weatherby with the Texas League of Women Voters told the editorial board. “If there was anything that made it easier to vote there are people out there who are writing bills to take that away.”

The worst of the lot, a compendium of bad policy, is Senate Bill 7, which Patrick has deemed the answer to “ballot security.”

The bill would impose arbitrary and unnecessary restrictions such as limiting voting hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., requiring all countywide polling places to have the same number of voting machines — effectively killing mega voting locations in large counties. And yes, it would prohibit all mobile, outdoor and drive-thru polling places.

Opening the door to intimidation, it allows partisan poll watchers virtually unrestricted access inside a polling place. While watchers can’t be in the voting booth, they can stand close enough to “see and hear” all activities.

If that weren’t enough, the bill makes life as hard as possible for the dedicated Texans who volunteer to assist voters, imposing unnecessary paperwork. Why would a bill do that? To deter volunteers who drive voters to the polls for curbside voting, a service that undoubtedly helps low-income people. The bill also requires that anyone who requests an absentee ballot because of a disability must include proof along with their application.

Then we have the proposal by Rep. Mayes Middleton, R-Wallisville, that would eliminate deputy voter registrars. These volunteers are certified to sign up new voters, help people update their registration and determine eligibility, and make sure forms are filled out correctly. They’re even trained to review that a voter’s signature matches the one on their driver’s license.

Doing away with them would hurt, not help, election integrity. The bill would also use the Department of Public Safety to verify a would-be voter’s citizenship status and put the burden on the voter to prove they are eligible if they are mistakenly taken off the rolls. A separate bill by Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, would also use DPS records to identify noncitizens.

Using DPS data — which does not automatically update when a permanent resident becomes a citizen — threatens to repeat the fumbled 2019 voter purge that led to the resignation of acting Secretary of State David Whitley. Cain’s proposal goes beyond using DPS and would also require the secretary of state to cross-reference, at least twice a year, its voter registry with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s noncitizen resident database — another unnecessary step that is flawed and ripe for errors, according to the American Immigration Council.

In a clear swat at Harris County’s efforts to help voters during the pandemic, state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, and state Rep. Valoree Swanson, R-Spring, filed legislation that would prevent officials from preemptively sending out mail-ballot applications to registered voters. A proposal by state Rep. Dennis Paul, R-Houston, would even prohibit in-person drop-off of absentee ballots.

These proposals are unnecessary solutions for a nonexistent problem. Testifying before lawmakers, Keith Ingram, director of elections in the Secretary of State’s Office, said of November’s elections:

“In spite of all the circumstances, Texas had an election that was smooth and secure. Texans can be justifiably proud of the hard work and creativity shown by local county elections officials.”

Republicans are right when they say that “election integrity” is crucial to a functioning democracy. They just need to review the definition of integrity.

It means honesty, not deception. It means protecting voter rights, not political parties.

Remember the phrase “Stop the Steal?” We call on every honest Texan who truly wants free and fair elections in this state to reappropriate those lying words for good. Demand that your representatives in the Texas House and Senate stop this senseless, discriminatory and un-democratic legislation. Demand that they Stop the Steal of election rights in Texas.