Tag Archives: DPS

Judge blocks any voter purges from the SOS advisory

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Let’s hope this lasts. In a major victory for voting rights groups, a federal judge has ordered that no Texas county should purge suspected noncitizen voters from the rolls or issue letters demanding that they prove their citizenship “without … Continue reading →

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Testimony ends in SOS advisory lawsuit

Posted on February 26, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Now we wait for a ruling. We’ve already sort of gotten one, but it’s not all official yet. As part of an ongoing flurry of litigation in federal court here over the state’s bungled citizenship review of its voter rolls, … Continue reading →

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Another reason David Whitley has to go

Posted on February 24, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

County elections officials feel like they can’t trust him or his office right now. That’s a big deal. As the Texas secretary of state’s office rolled out its botched effort to review the citizenship of nearly 100,000 voters, Betsy Schonhoff … Continue reading →

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Civil rights groups want Whitley to not be confirmed

Posted on February 23, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

No kidding. More than 30 civil rights and community groups are calling on Senate Democrats to block the confirmation of embattled interim Secretary of State David Whitley, who oversaw the botched rollout of an investigation into the citizenship of tens … Continue reading →

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SOS advisory lawsuit continues

Posted on February 22, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

From Day Two of testimony: Despite a glaring error in the original data that questioned the citizenship status of tens of thousands of registered voters, a state elections official defended the investigation in federal court Wednesday, saying some potential illegal … Continue reading →

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First day in court for SOS advisory lawsuits

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

First day for the first lawsuit, one of three filed against that bogus SOS advisory. A federal judge in San Antonio will hear arguments Tuesday in one of three legal challenges to the state’s initiative to purge tens of thousands … Continue reading →

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Here’s one solution to the SOS problem

Posted on February 16, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Works for me. A San Antonio state rep wants to repeal the law that let Texas Secretary of State David Whitley refer a poorly vetted list of 95,000 people’s names to the attorney general for investigation for voter fraud. Rep. … Continue reading →

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Whitley’s “apology”

Posted on February 15, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

He can do a lot better than this. He should do a lot better than this if he wants to get confirmed. Facing an uncertain path to confirmation after ordering a deeply flawed voter citizenship review that seemingly focused on … Continue reading →

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Paxton double-talks on that SOS advisory

Posted on February 14, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Ken Paxton really can’t be trusted. Not exactly earth-shattering, I know, but always good to remember. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton assured lawmakers on Friday that his office hadn’t launched criminal investigations into nearly 100,000 voters flagged by the secretary … Continue reading →

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Paxton manages to restrain himself from prosecuting anyone on the SOS list – yet

Posted on February 9, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Mighty decent of you there, Kenny boy. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told lawmakers Friday that his office has yet to take action on a deeply flawed list of nearly 100,000 Texas voters flagged last month for citizenship review. Paxton … Continue reading →

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The Whitley hearing

Posted on February 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Not a great day at the office for our Secretary of State and his advisory-ing ways. Almost two weeks after calling into question the citizenship status of almost 100,000 registered voters, Texas’ new chief elections officer, David Whitley, defended his … Continue reading →

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Three times a lawsuit

Posted on February 5, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Hat trick! A group of civil and voting rights organizations is suing the state’s chief election officers and local election officials in five counties, claiming Texas’ voter citizenship review efforts are unconstitutional because they intentionally target naturalized citizens and voters … Continue reading →

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SOS advisory lawsuit update

Posted on February 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Add another plaintiff, litigate till done. A naturalized citizen — who immigrated to Texas from the United Kingdom and is a registered voter — is joining a Latino civil rights group in suing top Texas officials after her voter registration … Continue reading →

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SOS walks its advisory back even more

Posted on February 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Just rescind the whole damn list and let’s pretend this never happened. A week after it flagged tens of thousands of voters for citizenship checks, the Texas secretary of state’s office is now advising counties on how to check their … Continue reading →

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Eh, what’s a few thousand mis-identified non-citizens among friends?

Posted on February 1, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

No biggie. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott downplayed concerns Thursday about the voter citizenship review initiated last week by his secretary of state, even though it has since become clear that the state’s list of flagged voters swept up thousands of … Continue reading →

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As the SOS advisory numbers get revised down

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This really can’t be emphasized enough. State officials on Tuesday acknowledged widespread errors in their list of 95,000 Texas voters flagged as potential non-citizens, reinforcing the concerns of advocates who say the state’s effort amounts to illegal voter suppression. In … Continue reading →

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A trio of updates about that bogus SOS letter

Posted on January 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Most counties reacted skeptically, as well they should. The Texas Tribune reached out to 13 of the 15 counties with the most registered voters on Monday; Galveston was the only one that indicated it would immediately send out letters, even … Continue reading →

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Civil rights groups push back on bogus SOS letter

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Lawyers with 13 organizations — including the Texas Civil Rights Project, the ACLU of Texas, the League of Women Voters of Texas and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund — are demanding that the state rescind an advisory sent to … Continue reading →

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It’s “Let’s lie about vote fraud” season again

Posted on January 28, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib wrote about this in the best possible way, but the shrieking ghouls are out there in force doing what they can to whip up fear. The Texas secretary of state’s office announced Friday it would send local election … Continue reading →

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No cannabis for you

Posted on December 15, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck getting your hands on medical marijuana in Texas. It’s been about a year since the first legally grown marijuana plants were harvested in Texas for their medicinal oils. But since then, fewer than 600 patients have seen any … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over Driver Responsibility Program

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be interesting. A national civil rights organization on Wednesday sued Gov. Greg Abbott and four top officials at the Texas Department of Public Safety, arguing that the state’s Driver Responsibility Program traps many of Texas’ most vulnerable … Continue reading →

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STEAR-ing help to those who need it

Posted on August 28, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Did you even know there was a state registry to help people with mobility challenges in the event of a natural disaster? Texas has a system in place to identify people with disabilities who will need extra help during a … Continue reading →

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Who watches the anonymous tipsters?

Posted on June 15, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Am I the only one who sees the potential for problems with this? Want a safe way to anonymously report suspicious activity at your neighborhood school to prevent a potential school shooting? There’s an app for that. In light of … Continue reading →

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State appeals “motor voter” ruling

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

No surprise. The legal fight over whether Texas is disenfranchising thousands of voters by violating a federal voter registration law is on its way to federal appeals court. Just after a federal judge gave Texas less than two months to … Continue reading →

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State offers no fixes for “motor voter” law non-compliance

Posted on May 19, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I’m shocked, I tell you, shocked. Told it was breaking the law, and asked to propose a fix, Texas seems to have mostly declined. Following a ruling last month that Texas was violating a federal law designed to ease the voter registration … Continue reading →

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State ordered to come up with fix for voter registration problems

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

The clock is ticking. Texas has less than a week to tell a federal judge in San Antonio how it will begin complying with the National Voter Registration Act, a decades-old federal law aimed at making it easier for people … Continue reading →

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Will the AG get involved in the Karolyi case?

Posted on May 13, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

The gymnasts who were victimized by Larry Nasser at the Karolyi Ranch would like to see a higher level of action. The Texas Attorney General’s Office should take the steps of the Michigan attorney general in aggressively pursuing charges against … Continue reading →

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Texas loses another voting rights lawsuit

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Anyone else detecting a pattern here? Handing the state another voting rights loss, a federal judge has sided with a civil rights group that claimed Texas violated federal law by failing to register residents to vote when they updated their … Continue reading →

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More medical marijuana requested

Posted on September 2, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This was a pre-Harvey story. Medical cannabis companies and investors are calling on Gov. Greg Abbott’s office and the Department of Public Safety to approve more dispensary licenses beyond the three given provisional approval in May. In a pair of … Continue reading →

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The DPS two-step

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

First, there was this. Despite a two-year budget of $2.4 billion, the Texas Department of Public Safety, with little notice, has reduced office hours at 11 of the state’s busiest driver’s license offices and plans to lay off more than … Continue reading →

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The state’s voter ID failure is much bigger than you think

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

You really have to read this. The confusion started in the first hour of the first day of early voting in San Antonio last October. Signs in polling places about the state’s controversial voter ID law contained outdated rules. Poll … Continue reading →

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Some Texas voting rights lawsuit updates

Posted on April 9, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This has been a busy week for litigation related to voting rights issues in Texas. Here are updates to some cases, all of which happened this past week. From Texas Redistricting: The three-judge panel in the Texas redistricting case has … Continue reading →

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AG’s office sanctioned in voter registration lawsuit

Posted on February 19, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

They were warned. A federal judge has ordered sanctions against the state of Texas for blowing past deadlines and ignoring a court order to hand over thousands of pages of documents in a lawsuit challenging its voter registration practices. Texas … Continue reading →

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State fails to respond to voter registration lawsuit

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s an update on a different voting rights lawsuit from last year. Civil rights lawyers suing Texas over its voter registration practices are asking a federal judge to sanction the state for allegedly blowing past deadlines and ignoring a court … Continue reading →

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