‌‌‌‌‌Texas Voters Encounter New ID Roadblocks

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Hello readers!

With the 2022 primary season about to begin, Texas has already offered a useful case study in voter suppression. We’ll get into that and more below.

Got a voting rights story you think our readers should hear? Chime in on The Hive. You can also respond to this email and tell me about it.
 

Alright, let’s dig in.

New Restrictions Cause Mass Rejections In Texas

Last week we reported on the beginning of a new voter suppression pattern out of Texas: Due to new voter restrictions passed in the state last year, hundreds of absentee ballots applications are being rejected. 
 

The cause is a new ID requirement: Voters who qualify to vote by mail in the state must now apply with either a state ID number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. But there’s a problem: The type of number on the application (whether state ID, driver’s license or SSN) must match the type of number the voter used when they first registered to vote — forcing them to remember sometimes decades-old minutiae. 
 

What’s worse, outdated application forms — without the ID number field — are still in circulation by the thousands all around the state, in municipal offices, libraries and the like. Some counties are rejecting up to 50% of ballot applications. 
 

To add to the trouble, the secretary of state’s office says a “paper shortage” is restricting the number of registration forms they can print and distribute this year. Texas law requires voters to register using paper forms. (The League of Women Voters has threatened a lawsuit over the shortage.) 

Should We Hold Out Hope For Federal Reform? 

As expected, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) sided with Republicans to block the change to the Senate filibuster necessary to pass voting rights legislation in an evenly split Senate. 
 

But is there hope that Congress might be able to get something done? How about reforming the Electoral Count Act, the outdated law that governs counting Electoral College votes, and the one Trump tried to abuse in order to steal a second term? 
 

A few Republicans have expressed interest in reforming the law to make it more difficult to hijack the system and steal an election. The politics work, too: Kamala Harris, not Mike Pence, would be the first vice president checked by any reforms.  
 

“I just encourage the discussion because I think it clearly is flawed. This is directly related to what happened on Jan. 6, and we ought to figure out a bipartisan way to fix this,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told The Hill recently. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has offered some vague utterances about the law as well.
 

But can congressional Republicans deliver the necessary 10 votes to overcome the inevitable filibuster? That seems unlikely, given how the last year has played out. The timing is also suspect: Perhaps ECA reform was floated to take some wind out of the sails of Democrats’ larger voting rights priorities and will now sputter out.

However, if this interest is authentic, what in the law deserves reform? Rick Hasen lays out some basics here. 

Around The States

The WISCONSIN Election Commission is appealing a state judge’s ruling outlawing drop boxes in the state. 
 

Having won the governorship fair and square, VIRGINIA Republicans are pushing a variety of new voter suppression bills. 
 

ARIZONA Republicans are pursuing dozens of new voting bills as well. 
 

That state's attorney general’s office also threatened to criminally charge the secretary of state over some necessary website maintenance. It’s complicated. 
 

The FLORIDA Senate passed a redistricting map that would have given Republicans the advantage in 16 out of 28 congressional seats (or 57%, even though Donald Trump only won the state with 51%). Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) wants more, proposing a map with 18 GOP-leaning seats. So: An intra-GOP standoff in Florida. 
 

Also in that state, thousands of signatures in support of a constitutional amendment to expand casino gaming are seemingly… fake. 
 

A TEXAS man who threatened three unidentified government officials has been charged federally. 
 

The Bipartisan Policy Center and several other groups have a fascinating package of “achievable federal election reform” proposals. I like the list, though I’m hesitant about the argument that “mail ballots should be received by Election Day at the close of the polls,” rather than requiring that ballots be postmarked by Election Day, because this would effectively penalize areas with slow mail delivery. 
 

The Brennan Center has a helpful round-up of redistricting litigation nationwide. 

The Latest In Election Sabotage

One WISCONSIN state representative was surreptitiously recorded saying Republicans should “cheat like the Democrats.” 
 

Also in that state, a former GOP official who urged people to “prepare for war” is now an election judge.
 

The Otero County, NEW MEXICO commission — including Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin, who’s facing Jan. 6 charges — voted for an “audit” of the 2020 presidential race, contracted to fringe right-winger David Clements. 
 

IDAHO’s secretary of state and attorney general sent a cease-and-desist letter and a $6,000 bill to pillow magnate and Big Liar Mike Lindell. 

Politico: GOP considers more ruthless redistricting
 

Democracy Docket: Democrats Must Reform the Electoral Count Act and Pass Comprehensive Voting Rights Legislation.

FiveThirtyEight: Did Redistricting Commissions Live Up To Their Promise?

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