Texas Republicans move to restrict voting

Texas Republicans advanced a slate of proposed new voting restrictions yesterday that would reduce options to cast ballots, limit polling hours and hand more power to partisan poll watchers.

All those efforts are rolled into a single bill that cleared the Republican-controlled state Senate — a key marker in a campaign by Republicans, including Governor Greg Abbott, to impose new restrictive measures over elections in America’s biggest red state.

The measure passed 18-13 in a vote after midnight that spilled along party lines, and hours later House Republicans began efforts to move a similar bill to the floor with nearly 200 people signed up to testify.

It comes after new voting restrictions were signed into law last week in Georgia. Opponents have already filed lawsuits and prominent corporate leaders have begun more forcefully criticising the efforts. Critics of the Texas legislation say the efforts particularly target expanded access put into place during last year’s election in Harris County, which is home to more than 2 million voters, controlled by Democrats and a key Texas battleground that includes Houston.

One measure would eliminate drive-thru voting, which more than 127,000 people around Houston used during early voting last year. More than half of those voters were black, Latino or Asian, said Democratic state Senator Carol Alvarado.

“Hearing all of that, who are you really targeting when you’re trying to get rid of drive-thru voting?” she said.

Republicans rejected accusations that the bill was designed to suppress turnout.

“None of what we’ve discussed is voter suppression. And none of what we’ve discussed is Jim Crow,” Republican state Senator Paul Bettencourt said.

The bill is one of two major voting packages in Texas that mirrors a nationwide campaign by Republicans following former President Donald Trump’s false claims about election fraud.

Voting rights groups say the measures would disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minority voters. In Texas, which already has some of the strictest voting laws in the US, the proposed legislation grants more power to partisan poll watchers and eliminates the option to cast a ballot via drive-thru. The bill also includes a provision requiring a doctor’s note for people with disabilities who want to vote by mail.

Trump won Texas by fewer than six points. It was the closest victory by a Republican presidential nominee in Texas since 1996, underscoring Republicans’ softening grip on the state.

The Senate bill cleared a committee last week after hours of testimony by voters. Some said the coronavirus pandemic was forcing them to choose between their health and their right to be heard by their government after weighing the risk of testifying on the bill in-person at the Texas capital, where masks were not enforced.

Ofelia Alonso, 25, a volunteer with civil rights advocacy group Texas Rising and volunteer deputy registrar, said she drove of hundreds of kilometres to testify in Austin on behalf of at-risk members of her community.

“Honestly, because we all work doing voter registration, we know how nonsensical this bill is,” Alonso said. “It makes absolutely no sense to criminalise people for wanting to participate in democracy, which should be our goal.” AP

It makes absolutely no sense to criminalise people for wanting to participate in democracy . . . Ofelia Alonso