The Texas legislature has completed an agreement on an election bill that intends to protect transparent, secure and fair elections in the state after more than a month of obstacles and fierce opposition.
The Election Transparency Initiative reports that the Texas Legislature has finalized election legislation that the policy organization says will institute voter I.D. requirements for both in-person and absentee voting. It claims these measures will guard against voter fraud, ensure ballots don’t get lost, be more consistent than signature verification and prevent ballot harvesting.
In a recent statement, Election Transparency Initiative National Chairman Ken Cuccinelli stated that, “Asking voters to show an I.D. to vote is simply common sense – there is no reason why voting-by-mail should have fewer safeguards than voting in-person."
The Election Transparency Initiative said that the Texas law will require registrars to update voter rolls for accuracy, ensure they fulfil their position by maintaining rolls, ban unsolicited mail in ballots, combat ballot harvesting and raise criminal penalties for election-related crimes.
In a statement, Gov. Greg Abbott said that "Senate Bill 1 will solidify trust and confidence in the outcome of our elections by making it easier to vote and harder to cheat. I look forward to signing Senate Bill 1 into law, ensuring election integrity in Texas," Fox News reported.
According to Fox News, Abbott signed Texas Senate Bill 1 on Sept. 7, after its 80-41 approval in the House and 19-13 approval in the Senate.
Even before Abbott signed the bill into law, two lawsuits were filed in federal court a by voter advocacy groups, community organizations and the elections administrator in Harris County. They alleged SB1 violates federal law including the Voting Rights Act, Civil Rights Act and three amendments to the Constitution. One of the lawsuits alleges the voting bill of “cruel targeting of vulnerable voters and community organizations,” Forbes reports.
While the Texas Legislation finally passed, it did not come without obstacles by Texas Democrats and widespread opposition to the bill.
Nearly 60 Texas House Democrats fled the Lone Star State on July 12, following a similar walkout from in late May – both of which attempted to prevent the passage of SB 1, which proponents say will bolster voter fraud safeguards and increase criminal and civil penalties for election fraud across the state.
Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen) said that the bill was part of a racist legacy in which voter suppression measures are pushed whenever minorities start to gain power, as is seen now with census data showing the Latino population in Texas nearly equal with non-Hispanic whites, Reuters reported.
The Texas Tribune reported that Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) pointed to past federal court rulings that said when lawmakers created a strict voter I.D. law that disproportionately burdened people of color and created political maps. they engaged in intentional discrimination. Those same courts found political maps were created that illegally undermined the strength of their votes.
“I am convinced that because our elections were safe, secure and successful that we are not here really to deal with what I termed the pretext of the policy goals — incidents of fraud or likelihood of fraud,” Anchía said, as reported by The Texas Tribune.
Despite so much opposition for the bill and Democrats attempting to stall its passage, many Texans did not agree with the arguments against passing a SB 1. A July poll from the TPPF and Rasmussen found that more than 80% of Texans support voter I.D. requirements for in person voting and 67% of Texans support those same protections for mail-in ballots.
