Today, National Voter Registration Day, is a time to galvanize those who have not yet been brought into the electoral process. The right to vote is the foundation of democracy. American democracy is at risk. Engaged citizens are democracy’s best defense.
Voter registration drives are taking place in Texas against the backdrop of the extremist anti-voter bill SB 1 that was signed into law earlier this month. The law, passed under the guise of election integrity, aims to restrict political participation, disproportionately targeting marginalized voters. At the signing of the bill, Gov. Greg Abbott said this will “make it harder for cheaters to cast an illegal
The Brennan Center for Justice pointed out, “His (Governor Abbott’s) own attorney general spent 22,000 hours looking for fraud. What did he find? Sixteen cases of false addresses on registration forms in a pool of nearly 17 million registered voters. The secretary of state’s office told Republican lawmakers what they didn’t want to hear: ‘Texas had an election that was smooth and secure.’”
Voter fraud needs to be suppressed if it exists, but not voter participation.
Appalling, discriminatory, simply undemocratic is this law. The list below summarizes some of the major concerns the League of Women Voters, along with other nonpartisan groups, has regarding this law:
Threatens election officials with criminal prosecution for enacting procedures to meet local community needs and increase voter freedom.
Threatens advocacy groups and individuals with felony prosecution for providing needed assistance to voters at polling locations and with mail ballots.
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