Search Results for: voter suppression

It’s Voter Suppression Week in the Senate

Posted on March 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Delayed by a day, but that won’t stop anything. Republican lawmakers in Texas are attempting to cement more bricks into the wall they hope will shield their hold on power from the state’s changing electorate. After more than 20 years … Continue reading →

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Republicans roll out their big voter suppression bill

Posted on March 17, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

They can’t do anything about blackouts or floods or COVID vaccinations, but they sure can do this. Joining a nationwide movement by Republicans to enact new restrictions on voting, Gov. Greg Abbott indicated Monday he will back legislation to outlaw … Continue reading →

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How not to be “ground zero” for voter suppression

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It starts with winning elections. Which would be easier to do if Republicans weren’t hell-bent on making it hard to vote, but then that’s why they do what they do. Fewer and fewer states are standing with Texas as it … Continue reading →

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Of course voters of color has more mail ballots rejected

Posted on October 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Water is wet, the sun rises in the east, voter suppression laws disproportionately affect voters of color. Alice Yi of Austin is frustrated when she thinks about the March primary election, when her 92-year-old father tried to vote by mail, … Continue reading →

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Disabled voters worry about getting screwed by SB7

Posted on July 9, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It won’t be called SB7 in the special session on voter suppression, but you know what I mean. Texas Republicans have pursued broad efforts this year to ratchet up voting restrictions in the aftermath of a high-turnout election that saw … Continue reading →

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First major vote suppression bill passes

Posted on April 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Nothing’s going to stop them. Senate Republicans on Thursday cleared the way for new, sweeping restrictions to voting in Texas that take particular aim at forbidding local efforts meant to widen access. In an overnight vote after more than seven … Continue reading →

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Who believes in the myth of voter fraud?

Posted on February 7, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Republicans do. Next question. A new University of Houston survey reveals the stark partisan divide among Texans on the issue of voter fraud in the November election. The survey found that 87 percent of Democrats believe there was no widespread … Continue reading →

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A note about voter ID and vote by mail

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

See if you can detect the same theme I’m detecting. From Houston Public Media: Rice University recently surveyed Harris County voters. And nearly 70 percent of respondents preferred voting by mail if that’s an option. “We found that a large … Continue reading →

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Harris County settles lawsuit about voter registration records

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not sure what to make of this. In a victory for government transparency, Harris County officials settled a lawsuit Tuesday with a conservative voting rights group, agreeing to disclose records of foreign nationals who voted in Texas elections and … Continue reading →

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So what’s happening with SB9, the vote suppression bill?

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The big House committee hearing was on Wednesday. Filed in early March, Senate Bill 9 by Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes emerged as a priority for Senate leadership and first appeared to seize on bipartisan support for modernizing outdated voting … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit stays voter ID ruling

Posted on September 7, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Ugh. The state of Texas can use its revised voter ID measure for the upcoming November elections, a divided federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The 2-1 decision, first reported by Politico Tuesday night, came from a panel of three … Continue reading →

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Voter ID law thrown out

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Fantastic. A federal judge has tossed out a new law softening Texas’ strict voter identification requirements. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos on Wednesday ruled that Senate Bill 5, signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in June, doesn’t absolve Texas lawmakers … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over giving voter data to bogus Trump commission

Posted on July 25, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I missed this last week. The League of Women Voters of Texas and the Texas NAACP said Thursday they have sued Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos over plans to release voter information to President Donald Trump’s election commission. Texas … Continue reading →

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Texas will turn over some voter info to Trump vote “fraud” commission

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this: Texas will hand over personal information of the state’s more than 15 million voters to President Donald Trump’s commission that is looking into voter fraud. Secretary of State Rolando Pablos said his … Continue reading →

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State accused of misleading on voter ID education outreach

Posted on September 8, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I know, I’m as shocked as you are. The federal government is accusing Texas of circulating “inaccurate or misleading information” to poll workers and would-be voters about relaxed identification requirements for the November elections. “Limited funds are being spent on … Continue reading →

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Texas begins its voter ID education outreach

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

For what it’s worth. Texas on Wednesday kicked off a voter education campaign ahead of the November elections amid heightened scrutiny of the state’s voter ID law. Under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and minority rights groups, … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit affirms voter ID ruling

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Made it by the deadline. Texas’ voter identification law violates the U.S. law prohibiting racial discrimination in elections, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed previous rulings that the 2011 voter ID law … Continue reading →

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Republican attorneys general file briefs in support of Texas’ voter ID law

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Birds of a feather. Fifteen Republican-controlled states are wading into the contentious court fight over Texas’ voter ID law, arguing in a legal brief that similar laws around the country have already been upheld by the courts. […] Ahead of … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit affirms that Texas voter ID law violates Voting Rights Act

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Texas’ four-year-old voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act but is not a “poll tax” barred under the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court has ruled. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday ruled that the … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS declines to intervene on voter ID

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Unfortunate. The Supreme Court said Saturday that Texas can use its controversial new voter identification law for the November election. A majority of the justices rejected an emergency request from the Justice Department and civil rights groups to prohibit the … Continue reading →

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Dems prep for voter ID

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s good to have a plan. Texas Democrats are renewing their opposition to the state’s voter-identification law, rolling out a program to educate voters ahead of a decisive few months that could see the controversial statute become a top issue … Continue reading →

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The voter ID effect

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The conventional wisdom is that we’re unlikely to see the full effect of the voter ID law until next year. The true test of how voter ID will affect voters — and whether it will sway elections — won’t come … Continue reading →

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Redistricting and voter ID lawsuit updates

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Redistricting, a typically thorough look at where things stand with redistricting and voter ID litigation in the three courts – San Antonio, where the redistricting litigation has been ongoing and is likely due for some action; Corpus Christi, … Continue reading →

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DOJ files suit against Texas’ voter ID law and redistricting maps

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Excellent. The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday that it will again seek to dismantle Texas’ voter ID law, this time with a lawsuit alleging the measure violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The department also said on Thursday that … Continue reading →

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Abbott versus Garza on voter ID

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

They’ve battled in court, and now they’re battling in the news. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on Monday called a lawyer for the Mexican American Legislative Caucus unethical for his suggestion that people in the Rio Grande Valley attempt to … Continue reading →

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Judge halts anti-voter registration laws

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Good. U.S. District Judge Gregg Costa of Galveston ruled that a law that prohibits third-party voter registrars from working in more than one county and another that mandates registrars in Texas be residents of the state violate the First Amendment. … Continue reading →

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Poli Sci profs against voter ID

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Rice political science professor Mark Jones writes an op-ed in the Chron that does a thorough job of dissecting Texas’ contentious voter ID law. Nearly one out of every three Texas counties lacks an operational DPS office, and no office … Continue reading →

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Voter ID trial wraps up

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I didn’t follow the day to day reports from the voter ID preclearance trial, mostly because there wasn’t anything in the testimony that was truly unexpected. Lots of numbers, some of questionable provenance, were presented. The state continued to claim … Continue reading →

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Voter ID passes the House

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. There was a long and often contentious debate, but when you have a 2/3 majority as the Republicans currently do, you usually get what you want. Gov. Rick Perry declared the voter ID issue an emergency issue, which … Continue reading →

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Voter ID not about facts

Posted on June 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown admits that voter ID legislation has nothing to do with the facts. “There are a lot of things that we pass laws on down here that we don’t have a hard, firm fast number on. Uninsured … Continue reading →

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Bait and switch on Voter ID

Posted on April 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So that “compromise” voter ID legislation? It’s not something its author is going to go to the mat for. [Rep. Todd] Smith said he is prepared to fight for his plan but added that if the choice is between an … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Voter ID: That’s it for now

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

In case you hadn’t already heard, the measure was passed out of committee – which was the full Senate in this case – by the predicted party-line vote, which was actually 20-12 since Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, sitting in the cheap … Continue reading →

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Voter ID: That’s it for now

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Greg Wythe

In case you hadn’t already heard, the measure was passed out of committee – which was the full Senate in this case – by the predicted party-line vote, which was actually 20-12 since Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, sitting in the cheap … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Voter ID: All through the night

Posted on March 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

According to Elise Hu’s liveblog of the voter ID hearing in the Senate, they’re on witness number 3 of 15, and they haven’t gotten to any public testimony yet. Suffice it to say, this is gonna go on for awhile, … Continue reading →

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