Accessible voting
Regarding “Hill Country Republican seeks to ban voting sites on college campuses, calling it a safety issue,” (Feb. 22): How gullible does state Rep. Carrie Isaac think we are? She’s claiming this bill prohibiting polling places on college campuses is part of a school safety initiative. And yet she doesn’t start with K-12 schools, where a smaller population are eligible to vote. Her initial focus is college campuses, where almost all students could cast ballots. In K-12 schools, it’s harder to set up polling places that aren’t in the middle of student activity, but that’s not necessarily the case on college campuses.
During the early days of the pandemic, Rice University had a polling place set in Rice Stadium, which made it easier to follow COVID protocols and wasn’t in the midst of classrooms or student residences. As I recall, there was a competition between the area universities for highest voter participation. And that is likely the reason Rep. Isaac is targeting colleges, just like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. It’s not about safety; it’s about making it harder for certain populations to vote. Those populations are the ones Rep. Isaac likely thinks won’t vote her party’s way.
People need to stop complaining about the younger generations not stepping up, not being patriotic, given that leaders keep trying to prevent those same generations from doing their civic duty. There is no badge of honor in making voting harder for those who are eligible. Democracy requires participation from all populations to survive, not just the chosen few.
Rather than discouraging them, you may just be firing them up. Jean Tanner, Houston
During the 1800s and 1900s we got on a horse or used a wagon or carriage, and in some cases walked, to a voting site to vote. In the year 2023 we are still physically going to a voting site to vote when we should be able to vote easily from home or a public library. There is a state representative now introducing a bill to restrict voting from colleges and universities. We pay our bills and send money with computers. We file our taxes, conduct banking transactions and gamble online. When are we going to move to modern-day voting and eliminate on-site voting? It would be a huge money and manpower saver. John Truitt, Houston
After obeying the law and paying taxes, the most important responsibility and right of citizens is voting. To characterize a bill that would prohibit voting sites on college campuses as a safety measure is absurd. It is an obvious effort to limit college students from exercising their privilege, right and, some might even say, duty to exercise this most important act of citizenship.
Rep. Isaac, a Republican, says her purpose is to keep “potentially dangerous people” off school campuses. She apparently considers young voters who might vote for a Democrat candidate as “dangerous.” Hogwash! If anyone is dangerous in this discussion, it is Rep. Isaac. Jim Greenwood, Houston