It was a banner year for voter suppression in Texas. The Legislature in 2011 went all in to thwart threats to GOP political hegemony.
Voter ID legislation and redistricting maps that work toward that end were born. Less noticed, Texas approved the country’s most restrictive rules on third-party voter registration drives. This, too, spawned legal challenge, thus far unsuccessful.
In a way, these restrictions are far more sinister. The registration restrictions aim to stop certain Texans from having the voting franchise at all.
No registration drives by the un-deputized. Folks wanting to work as volunteer deputy registrars have to be certified in each county in which voter registrations are sought. This ups voter drive costs and means no statewide, cross-county pushes. No out-of-staters allowed as registrars. They must be Texas residents eligible to vote here. Turning in applications must be done in person, not mail. Failure to turn applications in within five days is a misdemeanor.
Battleground Texas, whose goal is to turn Texas blue, has been complaining. But the lawsuit is by Voting for America and Project Vote, which are nonpartisan, nonprofit groups expert in signing up difficult-to-register groups. These include minorities and the poor, who just happen to vote Democratic.
Suppressing this is the real target. And the fear stems from Project Vote’s success. Since 1994, Project Vote has enabled registration of more than 5.6 million Americans in low-income and minority communities. In 2008, the organization registered 35,000 in Texas alone, mostly in Houston.
Attorney General Greg Abbott has attempted to tar Project Vote with ACORN. But the ties are overblown.
Tellingly, the Legislature had the opportunity to ease voting with online registration. It passed in the Senate and foundered in the House this year. Meanwhile, Texas is a national leader in voter turnout in all the wrong ways— 51st in the nation in 2010.
But the real tone deafness came from Republican Party of Texas chairman Steve Munisteri. “Boy, these people whine,” he said. “We’re under the same rules, and we don’t have any difficulty.”
Right. The GOP is well-known for its low-income voter registration drives and minority membership.
This seeming inability to see past one’s own experience is galling and embarrassing, mostly because it’s so obviously a matter of willful ignorance. READ MORE