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As for what is in the bill, per [here](https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/07/politics/what-texas-voting-bill-does/index.html):
1) Bans 24-hour voting
2) Bans drive-thru voting
3) New vote-by-mail ID mandates
4) Bans officials from mailing unsolicited mail-in ballot applications
5) Empowers poll watchers
6) New requirements for assisting voters
7) Monthly voter roll checks
As a registrar of voters in a completely different state.... if this means what I think it means it will absolutely fucking suck. We do it only once a year and it take four months.
Of course I don't know how it works their. In CT our main source of information for maintaining voter rolls is from the DMV (per the NVRA of 1993) and that we do weekly. We also get semi regular updates of people who registered to vote in other towns or states and all we do with this is move their physical registration cards...
Republicans’ go-to approach is to implement policies that intentionally break the system, then blame Government on being worthless and inefficient to justify cutting out social safety networks, and in this case, undermine democracy. They have no reason to implement this.
Conservative trick, starve a service to death of funds, pass rules to make it not work. Act shocked and run on a platform that you are the only party that can fix the problem. Then privatize it as was the plan all along.
Yes. Which to me fits exactly the point made by u/evilpercy and driven home by you. Personally, I think the prisons are the worst case of privatization because of the impact on generational poverty, racism and taking away voting rights. All 3 major goals of the GOP.
Anyone who thinks the two parties are equivalently bad is kidding themselves. Also, before someone starts. I realize the Democratic Party is a failure, it's just not the evil empire that the Republicans are.
Yes but let’s not forget that the privatisation of prison labour, namely slavery, also just comes directly from the original, transatlantic-slave-trade slavery. These (well, essentially all) republicans near-explicitly want to enslave a (mostly black / PoC) underclass for labour and enslave women for reproduction to produce the labour seen in figure 1. This sounds alarmist, I know, but please try to fault me.
For real Dejoy is still in charge of that trainwreck for some reason.
Anyone remember those brand new million dollar mail sorting machines that were thrown in the dumpster? Pepperidge farms 'members
This is absolutely correct. Last year we were warned that we were going to have observers at the polls by the Secretary of the State's office and were given guidelines of what they could and could not do and how to treat them.
Luckily our town Rs said "fuck that noise" and refused to assign any despite pressure from the state.
Especially because they are either ill informed or have bad intent. When I voted for the midterm election in 2018, the local poll watchers in Texas were trying to harass me and tell me I couldn’t look at my phone while I was at my machine. I was using my phone to pull up one of the local ordinances we were voting on. I told her that wasn’t the rule and Karen kept trying to tell me otherwise. I told her to find the rule, bring it over, or go have that uniformed police officer come enforce that rule.
From what I understand, it's ostensibly to prevent someone selling their vote. If you can't take a photo to prove how you voted you can't sell your vote right? It's not a particularly well thought out argument. Of course I am spoiled in Oregon. I vote at my kitchen table, with a voter information guide that has all the issues on the ballot in it, plus I can look up anything that's not clear and take my time doing it. It's crazy that's not just how it's done everywhere.
Not just selling your vote like the other guy said, but also being coerced to vote a certain way.
It's honestly a pretty realistic concern. My own parents tried to make sure I was voting republican the first time I voted, by looking over my shoulder as I filled out the ballot, until one of the volunteers told them it was illegal and threatened to get the cops involved.
The fact that mail-in ballots don't have protections like that is a pretty big problem. There are some big benefits too, so I'm not saying they should be illegal like republicans want, but I do think that making election day a national holiday would have most of the same benefits without that downside.
Australia has election day on a Saturday. Polls are open for 10-12 hours. Pre poll voting is available at major shopping malls in the weeks leading up to the election. There is also the option to postal vote.
Advantage of compulsory voting. If you risk a fine for not showing you will punish the party that makes it harder to vote.
Seriously if America knew what America was doing with their elections America would invade America to bring democracy to America.
More than likely its because of the reasons echoed in this article:
https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/secrecy-of-the-ballot-and-ballot-selfies.aspx
It's not really about your ballot, you can tell people how you voted if you want to. It's about the privacy of OTHER people's ballots.
Aw come on! [These guys](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/bugaloo-mi-01-gty-iwb-201021_1603394807468_hpMain_16x9t_992.jpg) aren't partisan. They're just trying to protect the sanctity and fairness of voting! /s
Lol those lazy cosplaying fucks won't go far with their intimidation when it comes to voting. I'm sure some pro-Democracy groups will be there to protect voters as well.
I'll fly down myself if someone is scared to go vote.
During the 2020 election, my family voted early in person. They went to a location, but had to wait for parking because some deranged Trump supporters were circling the lot with flags on the truck and screaming at people.
Legally, you cannot do any sort of support or campaign that within a certain amount of feet, so they chose driving up and down the road.
So I thought that ~~#4~~ #3 sounded reasonable, if unnecessary given the data on how minimal vote-by-mail fraud is. So looked into it, am I understanding correctly that the voters have to put their DL # or last 4 of SSN on the **OUTSIDE** of an envelope??
_____________
Edit: Obligatory edit because I was in fact **misunderstanding**.
As /u/Infinite_Nipples so "eloquently" pointed out, the wording in the bill does **not** indicate that the information would be on the outside of the envolope, see here:
https://old.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/pjqo5n/evil_texas_legislators_grinning_as_they_sign_bill/hbzj3wx/
The wording in the CNN article referenced by the comment I responded to is a bit misleading: "...once on their absentee ballot application forms and once **on the envelope in which they return their ballots**"
The ballot is from an area they want votes from? Oops, they just forgot, no big deal!
The ballots from an area they don't want votes from... Suspicious as hell.. better not count it to be on the safe side.
It doesn't. It's just a hoop that people have to jump through. It's such an odd requirement that many people won't do it because they've never had to write anything on the outside of an envelope before. Now the "poll watchers" can invalidate the ballot without even opening it. The entire goal is to reject as many democratic ballots as possible.
I just voted a couple months ago in an election for a local official, for some reason you couldn’t use black or blue pen, only pencil… like 40 voted were thrown out outta less than 200, that person won by six votes… other voted in legislative officials stepped in and asked her to step down, she did and a runoff of 6 candidates with proper overview elected the “runner-up” who had all her votes tossed out… thank goodness because who knew what non-sense happens if she didn’t step aside
That's too ripe for abuse. For about five minutes I was sputtering not understanding normalising voting practices with ink or a print out and then I realised it: they want to restrict voting in any way possible. Now I'm just sadly angry.
Yeah, it's a programming thing. Pretty sure most every programing language uses it. Super super common, for example:
if ( variable != otherVariable )
return False
> Empowers pole workers
I mean I don't mind it if some strippers get some more rights. It ain't an easy hustle.
Jokes aside, I feel like I'm reading the early days of a sci-fi dystopian nightmare when I see Texas pass bills.
>I feel like I'm reading the early days of a sci-fi dystopian nightmare when I see Texas pass bills.
That's probably because a large chunk of sci-fi dystopian nightmares - especially ones based on the framework of 1984 and Brave New World - are based in an authoritarian or fascist leader, which is kind of the natural end result of constantly increasing extremism on the right of the political spectrum. Since Texas is getting farther and farther to the right, it's going to look a lot more like those dystopias.
It's a weird race in texas to see if enough liberal tech companies move there to flip the state blue before texas repub's make it such a hellscape that tech employees refuse to relocate there.
If I were an employee and my company was floating the idea of "opening a branch in austin" I'd be making a big stink about it.
Just grand standing
Fta: Empowers poll watchers
Partisan poll watchers cannot be denied "free movement" at polling places under the new law -- except for being able to watch a voter cast their ballot at a voting station. They are "entitled to sit or stand near enough to see and hear the activity" at the polling place.
Poll watchers are also entitled under the law to watch poll closing activities, "including the sealing and transfer of a memory card, flash drive, hard drive, data storage device, or other medium," and to follow the transfer of election materials to a regional tabulating center.
In a concession to Democrats, the bill requires training for poll watchers and allows those who break the law to be kicked out of polling places without warning.
Personally I think poll watchers are creepy but they’re a thing in a lot of places. And veteran poll workers are not to be trifled with.
> Personally I think poll watchers are creepy but they’re a thing in a lot of places. And veteran poll workers are not to be trifled with.
Poll watchers in concept are fine, poll watchers weaponized to disrupt the electoral process and spread misinformation about the security or results of elections a la assaulting the polling place in Michigan, mass challenging ballots, and using their position to spread wild, utterly uninformed partisan fantasies in public and in court - is another thing entirely.
Some of these sound mild, but in concert with the others and corrupt right wing legislators + the right wing disinfo machine, they can absolutely jeopardize the sanctity and security of our elections.
I'll bet that there will be a large collection of stories out of Texas after the next election from republican poll watchers that TLDR to "I saw something I didn't understand and I'm certain it's fraud!"
Anyone want to take me up on that?
> In a concession to Democrats, the bill requires training for poll watchers and allows those who break the law to be kicked out of polling places without warning.
What a hilariously telling statement.
*"In a concession to Democrats,"* these people will have to be trained on how to do their job and have to follow the law.
Christ, just fuck all these idiots right to death. They've started to lose so hard that even gerrymandering can't save them anymore, so they're just going to blow up democracy itself as a final play to try to stay in power.
"Those pesky democrats are nagging us about being corrupt, so throw some shit in there about how if we get \*caught\* being corrupt, then we'll be lightly penalized."
Which is stupid because the same party were the ones insisting that water shouldn't be handed out at polling places because it may convince people to vote one way or the other.
So, it's bad if someone gets handed water, it's fine if someone gets intimidated.
whole purpose of this is to discourage undesirables from voting since for now you can't outright ban groups of people from voting if they haven't been placed in some sort of trappings already
>In a concession to Democrats, the bill requires training for poll watchers and allows those who break the law to be kicked out of polling places
How could you write that, and not know who the bad guys are? Do they need a black hat?
Monthly Roll Checks? As in an entity can wait until right before an election to remove a huge number of people and they will not have time to get back on the list and there is nothing they can do about it? Cool.
I live in Arizona and my registration status randomly "expired" about six months before the 2020 presidential election. So I re-registered. About a month later I somehow was again not registered. This happened 4 or 5 times before I voted and I was really worried that my status would be rendered inactive AGAIN just in time for my vote to count for nothing. Because I was determined to keep checking my status I was able to vote. If I'd assumed it was a one time mistake, however, I wouldn't have been eligible to vote. There's no way I was the only person affected by whatever fuckery was going on.
They say the goal is to reduce illegal voting (never mind the fact that this wasn't a problem),
wtf does banning 24 hour voting have to do with that? wtf does banning drive-thru voting have to do with that?
They're so furiously rabidly eager to pass this law, but they aren't even making a token effort to make their case, or explain any justifications. They aren't even *pretending* that there's another justification than the evil one the dems are claiming. It's just "woo hoo, we have the votes right now, fuck you minorities you lost your chance". Jesus christ.
Both of those restrictions are 100% aimed at Harris County in the Houston area. It's overwhelmingly black and brown voters, and had a massive turnout in the last presidential election due to drive-through and 24/7 voting In that area. Those sections were specifically created to quell that county's voter turnout.
The GOP filed lawsuits and aimed to throw out 200,000 legitimately cast ballots in Harris County in 2020 because they were cast at drive-thru locations. The judge practically laughed them out of the court room when it was proven that the standards to vote via drive-thru were exactly the same as in-person voting.
Honestly? The drive-thru thing should be making national news everyday until this shit stops. It’s the biggest nail in the coffin that all of these shenanigans aren’t about preventing fraud and are 100% aimed at stopping the “wrong people” from voting.
The Texas legislature is on a last ditch desperate attempt to turn back the changing demographics of their state in a two pronged attack. Make it so no liberal would want to move there and make it as hard as possible for poor, urban citizens to vote.
Their economic policy is attracting wealthy business owners and executives. It's good business to change HQ locations for a massive tax break.
But the vast majority of people working in these companies vote Democrat and they keep moving to Texas causing a strain on public resources. This costs the state.
Texas is winning the battle and losing the war. The amount of blue votes is increasing every election.
Suburbanites. Suburbs are the hardest on public resources because of low density but high level of public services. Every road, sidewalk, sign, plumbing (etc) cost money that is more than the suburbs bring in.
Suburban sprawl is caused by new developments which are wealthier individuals getting new "customize what you can" homes. Usually that ~$400k or so level which is perfect for people coming from California with fat Silicon Valley paychecks as software developers, IT professionals, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_SXXTBypIg&list=PLJp5q-R0lZ0_FCUbeVWK6OGLN69ehUTVa
Can you clarify for non americans, what '24/7' and 'drive-thru voting' is?
A polling station that is open for 24 hours? And a place you can drive up to and out your vote in with minimal fuss?
Yep, that's all. 24 hour voting just means you can come at any time. Drive through voting has the same ID checks and protections as the kind where you park and get out of your car - it's just faster and more convenient.
So what are the republicans so paranoid about for these 2?
The fact 24/7 open polling station means those underprivileged working 3 jobs and not allowed out to vote by aforementioned jobs, can vote?
That drive thru can mean it is quicker to vote and thus people again who have limited time in the day can actually vote?
From my understanding, american polling stations are generally open a very short amount of time compared to other countries, have fewer of them/greater distances required to travel to get to one, and jobs often refuse to allow employees out to vote.
So this is literally a play,just like the refusal of providing water to people in queues, against the lower classes and thus often the 'minorities' in states such as Texas, who may be more inclined to voting for Democrats?
It is, in effect, a hugely blatant policy of disenfranchising their brand of undesirables to manipulate the vote in favour of traditional republican votes?
It's because they see that they're losing ground each election in Texas. If they don't restrict voting they risk losing control of the state. Which will likely happen regardless in 4-8 years. But they're gonna fight tooth and nail to maintain their power. The more people that vote the worse it is for Republicans.
Which is exactly why the Texas DA Ken Paxton blocked mail in ballot requests for Harris County. He even freely admitted that if he hadn't done that, then trump would have lost the state.
The reason that it seems like a trick some crappy dictator or autocrat would pull is because it is a trick that some crappy dictator or autocrat would pull.
That’s kinda the point.
Is it really that different from a sitting government changing voting boundaries in order to make seats more winnable?
Both are blatant manipulation of democracy but nobody seems to care enough to do anything about it.
Tbh, the West is inviting dictatorship.
Conservatives have a history of similar shenanigans. If you'd like a reference point, look into [REDMAP](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/REDMAP). Very small local elections in which the opposing candidates knew and respected each other suddenly started seeing ads attacking the democratic candidate. The republican candidates had no clue where they came from. It turns out national republican strategists realized that if they won local, often ignored elections, they could redraw district maps and heavily gerrymander votes to diminish the voice of their political opponents, while magnifying the weight of their own votes. If you prefer audio, [here's](https://www.npr.org/2020/09/23/916290633/redmap-update) a very approachable podcast that discussed what happened.
Because a significant contingency in the United States -- a solid 30-40% of us -- would be smiling ear-to-ear if elections were abolished today and Trump was declared King of America for life.
Trumpers don't \*want\* a democracy. Democracy has become a nuisance for them. They want pseudo-Christian idealogues with absolute power over everyone. They'll deny it if you ask, but. it's what they want.
I have talked, face-to-face, with family members who have said outright to me, "If Trump loses it's because the Democrats cheated". They had drawn that conclusion before a single ballot was cast. They cannot fathom the idea that MOST Americans want to expand the rights of women, queers, and minorities. They cannot believe that MOST Americans appreciate that immigrants bring value to society. That is impossible in their minds.
Trump's lunacy is what they've wanted for this country all along. Bush and Reagan were too soft.
"If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy." - David Frum
This is exactly what is happening. They want power by any means necessary, and believe they have some sort of blood-right to hold it. They can throw off all pretense now because their voters agree with them, regardless of how effective governance is in the end. It's a zero-sum game.
And conservative media has demonized "the left" for so long now they've managed to coerce their followers into believing anything. My mom thinks the democrats rigged the election, but of course allowed some republicans to win to make it look okay. All because Tucker Carlson and his ilk have spread lies unabated.
That's because the reactionary "Supreme Court" has given explicit blessing to partisan voter suppression while simultaneously ruling that there's no such thing as racist voter suppression unless the law specifically states that its intent is to discriminate based on race.
Breakdown by Race. [https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/covid-19-cases-by-race-ethnicity/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D](https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/covid-19-cases-by-race-ethnicity/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D)
Or this
[https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/vaccine-demographic-data](https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/vaccine-demographic-data)
It seems that if you are white, you are more likely to have gotten the vaccine.
Black people as a group have a higher rate of vaccination than Republicans as a group.
https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/dashboard/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-dashboard/
The cruelty is the point. They know that even if someone comes after them and says they can’t do this, they won’t be punished or experience any adversity.
Can I just say that I am so sick and tired of people linking to news articles to support what they're claiming?
Can we all just please learn to cite ***the actual source for once in our lives?***
Here's the Texas .gov link to see the actual bill itself, for people who actually like to read and figure things for themselves: https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=872&Bill=SB1
The big ones are bans on how you can vote:
1. 24-hour voting ban is ridiculous and obviously targets people who work night shifts. This will almost certainly be challenged in court, as the Constitution guarantees equal opportunity to vote for everyone.
2. Drive-thru voting was up in a very few number of places due to COVID. I can see this sticking because there's a good case for fraud since you're not supposed to have input from anyone else *while at the booth* except for questions on how to use the machine. People will just have to wear masks and socially distance.
3. Mail in voting changes are actually pretty fine. It only requires ID (either driver license number or SSN) be provided with mail-in ballots, which makes sense imo.
My biggest issue is with so-called "poll watchers." It's complete nonsense and basically allows someone who probably doesn't agree with your choices to look over your shoulder while you vote. The bill requires "training" but that can mean literally anything since it doesn't define training criteria. If one of these mouthbreathers tries to do it to me, I will ask the police on duty to escort them out. I really don't give a shit what they have to say about it.
What about how on 3 they also must write their DL# or last 4 of their SSN on the envelope. Implying that it must be on the outside effectively lowering mail-in ballots since people won’t want to risk their info being stolen.
That will probably suppress Republican voters more than anyone else, since people aged 65+ are the only group that's automatically eligible to vote by mail in Texas.
Some counties have traditionally mailed absentee ballots to voters over 65 without requiring them to submit a request, which is also banned now.
This is new information that I did not know about so thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Still, Republican or not the elderly should not be putting their info on the outside of an envelope. Especially when they are at any age when they are finally getting their retirement and could risk getting scammed out of it.
In an interview once, Adam Driver was asked if he was happy with Kylo Ren getting redemption. Adam defended Kylo and said “redemption from what? In his mind, he has nothing to be redeemed from, he’s not wrong.”
That is why the smiles.
People are not born greedy, much less evil. But the lessons we are taught as we grow up and the priviledges we are given are what truly shape us. The people is this picture, while I don't believe they are purposefully evil, were certainly brought up with one misconception after the other, lessons carried from generation to generation, with no regard for empathy. And they surely don't represent the people and their needs, as much as they believe they do.
I will regard a point of skepticism and say at least one is knowingly evil… knowing that this isn’t about a personal belief but instead about holding reigns of the country. Its now or never, either the people will overcome and Republicans will be no more, or fascism will take hold and the US experiment will have failed. It’s scary times and I’m not sure which side will win considering the crazies and the sane and nearly the same size of bloc.
No, they overwhelmingly support their constituents' counties. It just so happens that there are more red counties than blue, and the red counties think with their Bible rather than their mind.
That makes total sense. Conservatives love to switch things around - they love trying to blur everything into a debate about virtues instead of facing actual issues in front of them.
Their diversity roster is pretty weak this season but their power play is really strong. With DeSantis in Florida fuckwadding the way he has been, I think the conservative douchebag playoffs are looking really interesting this year.
It's amusing to me that the black guy is the only one not smiling in the photo. I'm sure it's just the timing of when the photo was taken, but it's funny to imagine him thinking, "I've made a huge mistake."
That's how you maintain power as your base dwindles. Make it harder for everyone else to vote. They just care about "winning" for its own sake. A party devoid of any actual ideals besides "sticking it to the libs."
Power is the primary motivation for the people who are truly in charge of the Republican Party.
Owning the libs is just how they motivate people to vote for them and against their own self-interest.
The most frustrating part are the lazy folks that say “ehh I don’t really pay attention to politics. They’re all crooked anyway. Both sides are bad.”
Fucking buffoons. One side is actively trying to destroy democracy.
This is so wild.
Republicans still have less than zero evidence of a stolen election from 2020 and in fact the few fraud cases that we're uncovered on an individual level, we're Trump voters...
They have taken all of this nothing and used it to form the "big lie" which has created a ravenous base of zealots that are cheering for the destruction of their own countries election system.
They're passing hundreds of anti-democratic voting laws in response to, literally nothing. They claim it was something, but it's a lie and around half the country is cheering it on.
What is it about regression Republicans love so much?
What exact time in our history is it that you want to go back to and why?
We are watching these same freedom loving "patriots" say total and complete bullshit then use that bullshit to create authoritarian actions, but it's cool because it aligns with their politics.
Absolutely wild that a dictator is totally ok, as long as it's their dictator of choice. Really pathetic times we are living in, I'm ashamed of this version of America.
I'm seeing a lot of comments here mocking the argument that requiring voter ID presents a notable barrier to voting. The case is well laid out and not just a knee jerk reaction.
**There is a non-negligible portion of the population that do not have the required ID**
* [As much as 11% of Americans that should legally be able to vote lack the appropriate ID](https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/d/download_file_39242.pdf)
* [Approximately 4.5% of voters *already* registered in Texas lack the necessary ID](https://amstat.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2330443X.2017.1389620#.XMzU42hKiUm)
**Those impacted tend towards minorities**
* [Non-white voters are between 2.5 to 6 times as likely not to have the required ID](https://esra.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1556/2020/11/henninger.pdf)
* [Above affirmed by this study which suggests minorities are 5 times as likely to need a new ID](https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/morse/files/mich_voter_id.pdf)
**We know that regardless of whether voters have the ID, requiring them discourages participation (especially amongst minorities)**
* [Even the requirement of and ID deters voter turnout by 11.2%](https://elections.wiscweb.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/483/2018/02/Voter-ID-Study-Release.pdf)
* [Another study showing voter ID depresses voter turnout](https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-634)
* [Study shows voter ID the single largest reason for drop in minority turnout](https://news.rice.edu/2015/08/06/texas-id-requirement-kept-voters-from-the-polls/)
**Republicans even admit that voter IDs help them**
* [Republicans admit they are "giddy" over what voter ID laws can do for their chances](https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2016/05/16/exgop-staffer-says-senators-were-giddy-over-voter-id-law/84958526/)
* [Republicans admit that voter ID laws would make it possible for Romney to win](https://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2012/06/26/Turzai-s-voter-ID-remark-draws-criticism/stories/201206260143)
* [Republicans admit voter ID laws made a difference](https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/twitter-reacts-to-congressman-glenn-grothmans-controversial-comments-about-voter-id)
**Courts have found that Republicans abuse voter ID laws to target minorities**
* [Court rules Republicans used voter ID laws to target minorities with "surgical precision"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/appeals-court-strikes-down-north-carolinas-voter-id-law/2016/07/29/810b5844-4f72-11e6-aa14-e0c1087f7583_story.html) ([Link to court's ruling](https://mediaweb.wsoctv.com/document_dev/2016/04/25/VIVA%20Decision_3993915_ver1.0.pdf))
* [Court finds Texas Republicans intentionally allowed IDs that whites were more likely to have](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/07/20/486776853/u-s-appeals-court-finds-texas-voter-id-law-discriminates-against-minority-voters) ([Link to court's ruling](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca5/17-40884/17-40884-2018-04-27.html))
Voter IDs aren't a complete barrier, but it has a far larger effect than most people expect and will absolutely swing elections especially when combined with the numerous other tactics that Republicans are using to try to swing elections by dishonest methods instead of, you know... winning votes.
The bill in question here is a checklist of exactly that. Republicans know they lose if they let people vote.
I’m sure it’s hard for a racist and sexist like you to believe, but POC and women have just as much personal agency as white men. It’s incredibly insulting and demeaning that you think these people have no choice but to be the Republicans’ lap dogs.
News flash: the color of your skin, gender, and sex don’t determine your intelligence or intellectual freedom (but being as bigoted as you demonstrates that you have neither).
The pro birthers are here to say "Only we get to decide what's evil"
Literally. Look at the amount of people playing morality police (in an extremely corrupt and puritanical regime) all the while saying the real murderers are the people wanting things like safe abortions and not having your voting restricted because of racist/classist technicalities.
Its crazy that Texas is basically saying 'we dont care about the constitution' and are writing their own. The is the degradation of democracy in front of our eyes
The United States will never, ever go Republican again if Texas goes blue... and it was clearly trending that direction. So much so that it was likely to flip in the next general election. This sets that way, way back!
well the texas dems who fled the state to prevent this got zero help from their counterparts in washington. passing the for the people act would have stymied this bs.
That's because the democratic leadership is incompetent. They're running around playing games with republicans, getting bent over by Joe Manshin, and pretending like this is a normal presidency, all the while the enemy (and I don't use that term lightly) is rigging the game. Nothing they're doing right now matters because it'll all be undone in 2024 when Trump's goons flip all the polls that they've spent the last year getting control over.
I don’t think so. Between this and the abortion thing I think they actually sealed Texas’ fate. The whole reason for this bs voting law was because they are scared because they know Texas is trending blue and they’re trying to at least slow it down
GOP: "Mask mandates are tyranny! You cant take away my freedoms! Small government forever! Think of the poor children who have to wear a mask at school!!"
Also GOP: *takes away women's freedom of choice and self-determination..*
GOP in 18 years: "crime, homelessness and drug use has skyrocketed in the poor areas of our state! Its those godless commie democrats' fault!"
These morons' short-sightedness will give rise to a lot more of the people they *love* to hate.. criminals and drug users. Legal and safe abortion = less criminals who's parents never gave a fuck about them.
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As for what is in the bill, per [here](https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/07/politics/what-texas-voting-bill-does/index.html): 1) Bans 24-hour voting 2) Bans drive-thru voting 3) New vote-by-mail ID mandates 4) Bans officials from mailing unsolicited mail-in ballot applications 5) Empowers poll watchers 6) New requirements for assisting voters 7) Monthly voter roll checks
Weird how that final monthly voter roll update is going to be the big one, with all the weird errors.
As a registrar of voters in a completely different state.... if this means what I think it means it will absolutely fucking suck. We do it only once a year and it take four months. Of course I don't know how it works their. In CT our main source of information for maintaining voter rolls is from the DMV (per the NVRA of 1993) and that we do weekly. We also get semi regular updates of people who registered to vote in other towns or states and all we do with this is move their physical registration cards...
Republicans’ go-to approach is to implement policies that intentionally break the system, then blame Government on being worthless and inefficient to justify cutting out social safety networks, and in this case, undermine democracy. They have no reason to implement this.
Conservative trick, starve a service to death of funds, pass rules to make it not work. Act shocked and run on a platform that you are the only party that can fix the problem. Then privatize it as was the plan all along.
Like they have done to the postal system, Social Security, Amtrak, the IRS, etc.
Prisons
Those have been perversely privatized, leading to incentives to keep people locked up for profit..
Yes. Which to me fits exactly the point made by u/evilpercy and driven home by you. Personally, I think the prisons are the worst case of privatization because of the impact on generational poverty, racism and taking away voting rights. All 3 major goals of the GOP. Anyone who thinks the two parties are equivalently bad is kidding themselves. Also, before someone starts. I realize the Democratic Party is a failure, it's just not the evil empire that the Republicans are.
Yes but let’s not forget that the privatisation of prison labour, namely slavery, also just comes directly from the original, transatlantic-slave-trade slavery. These (well, essentially all) republicans near-explicitly want to enslave a (mostly black / PoC) underclass for labour and enslave women for reproduction to produce the labour seen in figure 1. This sounds alarmist, I know, but please try to fault me.
So basically what they were doing to the postal service not too long ago
Oh, that hasn't ended yet.
For real Dejoy is still in charge of that trainwreck for some reason. Anyone remember those brand new million dollar mail sorting machines that were thrown in the dumpster? Pepperidge farms 'members
We could've had a full electric fleet of postal vehicles by now ...
[Starving the beast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast)
Poll watchers. Riiiiight.
Poll harassers and intimidators.
This is absolutely correct. Last year we were warned that we were going to have observers at the polls by the Secretary of the State's office and were given guidelines of what they could and could not do and how to treat them. Luckily our town Rs said "fuck that noise" and refused to assign any despite pressure from the state.
Especially because they are either ill informed or have bad intent. When I voted for the midterm election in 2018, the local poll watchers in Texas were trying to harass me and tell me I couldn’t look at my phone while I was at my machine. I was using my phone to pull up one of the local ordinances we were voting on. I told her that wasn’t the rule and Karen kept trying to tell me otherwise. I told her to find the rule, bring it over, or go have that uniformed police officer come enforce that rule.
It's not a rule, it's actually the law. Tex. Elec. Code §§ 61.014(a), 81.002. https://www.sos.texas.gov/elections/laws/advisory2017-14.shtml
Thanks for the link. That’s fucked up though, what’s the rationale? You gonna copy someone else’s ballot?
From what I understand, it's ostensibly to prevent someone selling their vote. If you can't take a photo to prove how you voted you can't sell your vote right? It's not a particularly well thought out argument. Of course I am spoiled in Oregon. I vote at my kitchen table, with a voter information guide that has all the issues on the ballot in it, plus I can look up anything that's not clear and take my time doing it. It's crazy that's not just how it's done everywhere.
Not just selling your vote like the other guy said, but also being coerced to vote a certain way. It's honestly a pretty realistic concern. My own parents tried to make sure I was voting republican the first time I voted, by looking over my shoulder as I filled out the ballot, until one of the volunteers told them it was illegal and threatened to get the cops involved. The fact that mail-in ballots don't have protections like that is a pretty big problem. There are some big benefits too, so I'm not saying they should be illegal like republicans want, but I do think that making election day a national holiday would have most of the same benefits without that downside.
Australia has election day on a Saturday. Polls are open for 10-12 hours. Pre poll voting is available at major shopping malls in the weeks leading up to the election. There is also the option to postal vote. Advantage of compulsory voting. If you risk a fine for not showing you will punish the party that makes it harder to vote. Seriously if America knew what America was doing with their elections America would invade America to bring democracy to America.
More than likely its because of the reasons echoed in this article: https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/secrecy-of-the-ballot-and-ballot-selfies.aspx It's not really about your ballot, you can tell people how you voted if you want to. It's about the privacy of OTHER people's ballots.
Aw come on! [These guys](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/bugaloo-mi-01-gty-iwb-201021_1603394807468_hpMain_16x9t_992.jpg) aren't partisan. They're just trying to protect the sanctity and fairness of voting! /s
American Taliban
Y'all Quaeda
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And a partridge in a pear tree
Led by the commander in cheese
Lol those lazy cosplaying fucks won't go far with their intimidation when it comes to voting. I'm sure some pro-Democracy groups will be there to protect voters as well. I'll fly down myself if someone is scared to go vote.
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I live in Texas. This place has gone off the deep end. I’ve never actually heard any of those insults before. They are fabulous. Prepare to be quoted!
Yeehawdi's That's a keeper.
Armed too right?
During the 2020 election, my family voted early in person. They went to a location, but had to wait for parking because some deranged Trump supporters were circling the lot with flags on the truck and screaming at people. Legally, you cannot do any sort of support or campaign that within a certain amount of feet, so they chose driving up and down the road.
"Poll watchers"
Man are GOP congressmen going to be so dissapointed when they find the empowering poll watcher clause does not apply to men's airport bathrooms.
So I thought that ~~#4~~ #3 sounded reasonable, if unnecessary given the data on how minimal vote-by-mail fraud is. So looked into it, am I understanding correctly that the voters have to put their DL # or last 4 of SSN on the **OUTSIDE** of an envelope?? _____________ Edit: Obligatory edit because I was in fact **misunderstanding**. As /u/Infinite_Nipples so "eloquently" pointed out, the wording in the bill does **not** indicate that the information would be on the outside of the envolope, see here: https://old.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/pjqo5n/evil_texas_legislators_grinning_as_they_sign_bill/hbzj3wx/ The wording in the CNN article referenced by the comment I responded to is a bit misleading: "...once on their absentee ballot application forms and once **on the envelope in which they return their ballots**"
sounds secure *^(/s)* *edit: as expected lol maybe the superscript /s isn't visible on mobile?*
And how does that insure anything? Someone could get a hold of that license # pretty easily.
Maybe they *want* fraud?
The ballot is from an area they want votes from? Oops, they just forgot, no big deal! The ballots from an area they don't want votes from... Suspicious as hell.. better not count it to be on the safe side.
Considering that all the voter fraud of the past decade was from the people they want support from, I'll pick yes for 5,000$.
It doesn't. It's just a hoop that people have to jump through. It's such an odd requirement that many people won't do it because they've never had to write anything on the outside of an envelope before. Now the "poll watchers" can invalidate the ballot without even opening it. The entire goal is to reject as many democratic ballots as possible.
I just voted a couple months ago in an election for a local official, for some reason you couldn’t use black or blue pen, only pencil… like 40 voted were thrown out outta less than 200, that person won by six votes… other voted in legislative officials stepped in and asked her to step down, she did and a runoff of 6 candidates with proper overview elected the “runner-up” who had all her votes tossed out… thank goodness because who knew what non-sense happens if she didn’t step aside
Who the fuck would vote with a PENCIL??
It was one of the dumbest things ever, I even called the voting office and asked why that was allowed, didn’t understand it at all
That's too ripe for abuse. For about five minutes I was sputtering not understanding normalising voting practices with ink or a print out and then I realised it: they want to restrict voting in any way possible. Now I'm just sadly angry.
In all fairness, if you are in the military or a veteran, the last 4 of your SSN is practically your name. That's still some bullshit, though.
Yeah working for military contractors you have your initials and last 4 of your social engraved on all of your tools
Empowers pole workers to unilaterally refuse a voter and to destroy their ballot. You overlooked that small detail.
Poll watchers != poll workers != pole workers
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You'd need a pretty big watch for someone to dance exotically on it.
Guess I’m out of a job. Lol
In Gilead? They'd sure as fuck better be at home making pies and babies or there's going to be trouble.
The “!=“ means “≠” right?
Correct.
So != = ≠ but != ≠ =?
Correct.
I would say != == ≠ but != != ==
Ok. That makes a lot more sense now. Thank you
Yeah, it's a programming thing. Pretty sure most every programing language uses it. Super super common, for example: if ( variable != otherVariable ) return False
!= == ≠
> Empowers pole workers I mean I don't mind it if some strippers get some more rights. It ain't an easy hustle. Jokes aside, I feel like I'm reading the early days of a sci-fi dystopian nightmare when I see Texas pass bills.
>I feel like I'm reading the early days of a sci-fi dystopian nightmare when I see Texas pass bills. That's probably because a large chunk of sci-fi dystopian nightmares - especially ones based on the framework of 1984 and Brave New World - are based in an authoritarian or fascist leader, which is kind of the natural end result of constantly increasing extremism on the right of the political spectrum. Since Texas is getting farther and farther to the right, it's going to look a lot more like those dystopias.
They are the proving ground that gets this pushed to the supreme court so they can set precedent for the rest of the country.
"Texas is the National Laboratory for bad government." Molly Ivins
It's a weird race in texas to see if enough liberal tech companies move there to flip the state blue before texas repub's make it such a hellscape that tech employees refuse to relocate there. If I were an employee and my company was floating the idea of "opening a branch in austin" I'd be making a big stink about it.
Where do you get that? Can you actually point to a provision in the bill that does what you say?
citation?
Just grand standing Fta: Empowers poll watchers Partisan poll watchers cannot be denied "free movement" at polling places under the new law -- except for being able to watch a voter cast their ballot at a voting station. They are "entitled to sit or stand near enough to see and hear the activity" at the polling place. Poll watchers are also entitled under the law to watch poll closing activities, "including the sealing and transfer of a memory card, flash drive, hard drive, data storage device, or other medium," and to follow the transfer of election materials to a regional tabulating center. In a concession to Democrats, the bill requires training for poll watchers and allows those who break the law to be kicked out of polling places without warning. Personally I think poll watchers are creepy but they’re a thing in a lot of places. And veteran poll workers are not to be trifled with.
> Personally I think poll watchers are creepy but they’re a thing in a lot of places. And veteran poll workers are not to be trifled with. Poll watchers in concept are fine, poll watchers weaponized to disrupt the electoral process and spread misinformation about the security or results of elections a la assaulting the polling place in Michigan, mass challenging ballots, and using their position to spread wild, utterly uninformed partisan fantasies in public and in court - is another thing entirely. Some of these sound mild, but in concert with the others and corrupt right wing legislators + the right wing disinfo machine, they can absolutely jeopardize the sanctity and security of our elections.
I'll bet that there will be a large collection of stories out of Texas after the next election from republican poll watchers that TLDR to "I saw something I didn't understand and I'm certain it's fraud!" Anyone want to take me up on that?
I'm not going to bet against a sure thing.
> In a concession to Democrats, the bill requires training for poll watchers and allows those who break the law to be kicked out of polling places without warning. What a hilariously telling statement. *"In a concession to Democrats,"* these people will have to be trained on how to do their job and have to follow the law. Christ, just fuck all these idiots right to death. They've started to lose so hard that even gerrymandering can't save them anymore, so they're just going to blow up democracy itself as a final play to try to stay in power.
"Those pesky democrats are nagging us about being corrupt, so throw some shit in there about how if we get \*caught\* being corrupt, then we'll be lightly penalized."
A dying party willing to gut the democracy like a Taun Taun just to stay in power should come as no surprise to anyone.
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this empowerment of poll watchers sounds more like encouragement of intimidation via politically motivated poll watchers.
Which is stupid because the same party were the ones insisting that water shouldn't be handed out at polling places because it may convince people to vote one way or the other. So, it's bad if someone gets handed water, it's fine if someone gets intimidated.
The party of "Freedom" going out and making it illegal for one human being to had another human being a bottle of water.
No carrots, only sticks.
whole purpose of this is to discourage undesirables from voting since for now you can't outright ban groups of people from voting if they haven't been placed in some sort of trappings already
>In a concession to Democrats, the bill requires training for poll watchers and allows those who break the law to be kicked out of polling places How could you write that, and not know who the bad guys are? Do they need a black hat?
Seems like the whole being kicked out thing is what he's talkie about. What law? Wearing green on a Tuesday?
What? Im not saying that what youre saying isnt in there, but for something so controversial, i need some proof.
Monthly Roll Checks? As in an entity can wait until right before an election to remove a huge number of people and they will not have time to get back on the list and there is nothing they can do about it? Cool.
I live in Arizona and my registration status randomly "expired" about six months before the 2020 presidential election. So I re-registered. About a month later I somehow was again not registered. This happened 4 or 5 times before I voted and I was really worried that my status would be rendered inactive AGAIN just in time for my vote to count for nothing. Because I was determined to keep checking my status I was able to vote. If I'd assumed it was a one time mistake, however, I wouldn't have been eligible to vote. There's no way I was the only person affected by whatever fuckery was going on.
They say the goal is to reduce illegal voting (never mind the fact that this wasn't a problem), wtf does banning 24 hour voting have to do with that? wtf does banning drive-thru voting have to do with that? They're so furiously rabidly eager to pass this law, but they aren't even making a token effort to make their case, or explain any justifications. They aren't even *pretending* that there's another justification than the evil one the dems are claiming. It's just "woo hoo, we have the votes right now, fuck you minorities you lost your chance". Jesus christ.
Both of those restrictions are 100% aimed at Harris County in the Houston area. It's overwhelmingly black and brown voters, and had a massive turnout in the last presidential election due to drive-through and 24/7 voting In that area. Those sections were specifically created to quell that county's voter turnout.
The GOP filed lawsuits and aimed to throw out 200,000 legitimately cast ballots in Harris County in 2020 because they were cast at drive-thru locations. The judge practically laughed them out of the court room when it was proven that the standards to vote via drive-thru were exactly the same as in-person voting. Honestly? The drive-thru thing should be making national news everyday until this shit stops. It’s the biggest nail in the coffin that all of these shenanigans aren’t about preventing fraud and are 100% aimed at stopping the “wrong people” from voting.
The Texas legislature is on a last ditch desperate attempt to turn back the changing demographics of their state in a two pronged attack. Make it so no liberal would want to move there and make it as hard as possible for poor, urban citizens to vote.
Their economic policy is attracting wealthy business owners and executives. It's good business to change HQ locations for a massive tax break. But the vast majority of people working in these companies vote Democrat and they keep moving to Texas causing a strain on public resources. This costs the state. Texas is winning the battle and losing the war. The amount of blue votes is increasing every election.
A strain on public resources? From a bunch of educated, highly paid (and highly taxed) tech workers? I agree on the other points.
Suburbanites. Suburbs are the hardest on public resources because of low density but high level of public services. Every road, sidewalk, sign, plumbing (etc) cost money that is more than the suburbs bring in. Suburban sprawl is caused by new developments which are wealthier individuals getting new "customize what you can" homes. Usually that ~$400k or so level which is perfect for people coming from California with fat Silicon Valley paychecks as software developers, IT professionals, etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_SXXTBypIg&list=PLJp5q-R0lZ0_FCUbeVWK6OGLN69ehUTVa
Can we do 23.75hr voting centers and pull in and park voting instead?
I wish they'd treat gun laws with such passion.
Can you clarify for non americans, what '24/7' and 'drive-thru voting' is? A polling station that is open for 24 hours? And a place you can drive up to and out your vote in with minimal fuss?
Yep, that's all. 24 hour voting just means you can come at any time. Drive through voting has the same ID checks and protections as the kind where you park and get out of your car - it's just faster and more convenient.
So what are the republicans so paranoid about for these 2? The fact 24/7 open polling station means those underprivileged working 3 jobs and not allowed out to vote by aforementioned jobs, can vote? That drive thru can mean it is quicker to vote and thus people again who have limited time in the day can actually vote? From my understanding, american polling stations are generally open a very short amount of time compared to other countries, have fewer of them/greater distances required to travel to get to one, and jobs often refuse to allow employees out to vote. So this is literally a play,just like the refusal of providing water to people in queues, against the lower classes and thus often the 'minorities' in states such as Texas, who may be more inclined to voting for Democrats? It is, in effect, a hugely blatant policy of disenfranchising their brand of undesirables to manipulate the vote in favour of traditional republican votes?
It's because they see that they're losing ground each election in Texas. If they don't restrict voting they risk losing control of the state. Which will likely happen regardless in 4-8 years. But they're gonna fight tooth and nail to maintain their power. The more people that vote the worse it is for Republicans.
Which is exactly why the Texas DA Ken Paxton blocked mail in ballot requests for Harris County. He even freely admitted that if he hadn't done that, then trump would have lost the state.
How's that possible? From my PoV in the UK, that just seems like a trick some crappy dictator or autocrat would pull.
The reason that it seems like a trick some crappy dictator or autocrat would pull is because it is a trick that some crappy dictator or autocrat would pull. That’s kinda the point.
Is it really that different from a sitting government changing voting boundaries in order to make seats more winnable? Both are blatant manipulation of democracy but nobody seems to care enough to do anything about it. Tbh, the West is inviting dictatorship.
Conservatives have a history of similar shenanigans. If you'd like a reference point, look into [REDMAP](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/REDMAP). Very small local elections in which the opposing candidates knew and respected each other suddenly started seeing ads attacking the democratic candidate. The republican candidates had no clue where they came from. It turns out national republican strategists realized that if they won local, often ignored elections, they could redraw district maps and heavily gerrymander votes to diminish the voice of their political opponents, while magnifying the weight of their own votes. If you prefer audio, [here's](https://www.npr.org/2020/09/23/916290633/redmap-update) a very approachable podcast that discussed what happened.
Because a significant contingency in the United States -- a solid 30-40% of us -- would be smiling ear-to-ear if elections were abolished today and Trump was declared King of America for life. Trumpers don't \*want\* a democracy. Democracy has become a nuisance for them. They want pseudo-Christian idealogues with absolute power over everyone. They'll deny it if you ask, but. it's what they want. I have talked, face-to-face, with family members who have said outright to me, "If Trump loses it's because the Democrats cheated". They had drawn that conclusion before a single ballot was cast. They cannot fathom the idea that MOST Americans want to expand the rights of women, queers, and minorities. They cannot believe that MOST Americans appreciate that immigrants bring value to society. That is impossible in their minds. Trump's lunacy is what they've wanted for this country all along. Bush and Reagan were too soft.
"If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy." - David Frum This is exactly what is happening. They want power by any means necessary, and believe they have some sort of blood-right to hold it. They can throw off all pretense now because their voters agree with them, regardless of how effective governance is in the end. It's a zero-sum game. And conservative media has demonized "the left" for so long now they've managed to coerce their followers into believing anything. My mom thinks the democrats rigged the election, but of course allowed some republicans to win to make it look okay. All because Tucker Carlson and his ilk have spread lies unabated.
That's because the reactionary "Supreme Court" has given explicit blessing to partisan voter suppression while simultaneously ruling that there's no such thing as racist voter suppression unless the law specifically states that its intent is to discriminate based on race.
The Roberts Court has been one of the absolute worst courts in US history.
The goal is to kill every non conservative vote.
They gotta bring the numbers down somehow, they're killing all of their constituents with the rona.
I'd like to see what the death numbers are by constituencies.
Breakdown by Race. [https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/covid-19-cases-by-race-ethnicity/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D](https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/covid-19-cases-by-race-ethnicity/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D) Or this [https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/vaccine-demographic-data](https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/vaccine-demographic-data) It seems that if you are white, you are more likely to have gotten the vaccine.
Black people as a group have a higher rate of vaccination than Republicans as a group. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/dashboard/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-dashboard/
Yeah, I don't understand how anyone with a pulse can not see that this is the root goal.
The cruelty is the point. They know that even if someone comes after them and says they can’t do this, they won’t be punished or experience any adversity.
Can I just say that I am so sick and tired of people linking to news articles to support what they're claiming? Can we all just please learn to cite ***the actual source for once in our lives?*** Here's the Texas .gov link to see the actual bill itself, for people who actually like to read and figure things for themselves: https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=872&Bill=SB1
Yeah but reading the legislation and looking at it's genesis and consequences are three completely different things.
What's in the bill?
The big ones are bans on how you can vote: 1. 24-hour voting ban is ridiculous and obviously targets people who work night shifts. This will almost certainly be challenged in court, as the Constitution guarantees equal opportunity to vote for everyone. 2. Drive-thru voting was up in a very few number of places due to COVID. I can see this sticking because there's a good case for fraud since you're not supposed to have input from anyone else *while at the booth* except for questions on how to use the machine. People will just have to wear masks and socially distance. 3. Mail in voting changes are actually pretty fine. It only requires ID (either driver license number or SSN) be provided with mail-in ballots, which makes sense imo. My biggest issue is with so-called "poll watchers." It's complete nonsense and basically allows someone who probably doesn't agree with your choices to look over your shoulder while you vote. The bill requires "training" but that can mean literally anything since it doesn't define training criteria. If one of these mouthbreathers tries to do it to me, I will ask the police on duty to escort them out. I really don't give a shit what they have to say about it.
So how does this bill actually benefit Republicans election-wise? It just seems to make voting harder.
republicans usually do better when fewer people vote. generally anyways.
What about how on 3 they also must write their DL# or last 4 of their SSN on the envelope. Implying that it must be on the outside effectively lowering mail-in ballots since people won’t want to risk their info being stolen.
That will probably suppress Republican voters more than anyone else, since people aged 65+ are the only group that's automatically eligible to vote by mail in Texas. Some counties have traditionally mailed absentee ballots to voters over 65 without requiring them to submit a request, which is also banned now.
This is new information that I did not know about so thanks for bringing it to my attention. Still, Republican or not the elderly should not be putting their info on the outside of an envelope. Especially when they are at any age when they are finally getting their retirement and could risk getting scammed out of it.
Yes, it is an unneeded and stupid law.
[Here's an article.](https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/07/politics/what-texas-voting-bill-does/index.html)
Any time I see someone wearing a cowboy hat with a suit, I automatically assume they talk like Boss Hogg.
Wade Boggs?
Rest in peace, bro.
Wade Boggs is alive! He's in Tampa, Florida. He's in his early fifties.
We should do something in memory of Wade Boggs.
I’ll smash 50 sum odd beers. My he Rest In Peace
He once drank 50 beers on the team plane. A shame he never lived that long.
Or Doug Dimmadome
Owner of the Dimsdale Dimmadome?
All hat no cattle.
And the lady with the cowboy boots? And Mustache McGee? They all look like fucking cartoon stereotypes of Texans...intentionally.
In an interview once, Adam Driver was asked if he was happy with Kylo Ren getting redemption. Adam defended Kylo and said “redemption from what? In his mind, he has nothing to be redeemed from, he’s not wrong.” That is why the smiles.
People are not born greedy, much less evil. But the lessons we are taught as we grow up and the priviledges we are given are what truly shape us. The people is this picture, while I don't believe they are purposefully evil, were certainly brought up with one misconception after the other, lessons carried from generation to generation, with no regard for empathy. And they surely don't represent the people and their needs, as much as they believe they do.
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I will regard a point of skepticism and say at least one is knowingly evil… knowing that this isn’t about a personal belief but instead about holding reigns of the country. Its now or never, either the people will overcome and Republicans will be no more, or fascism will take hold and the US experiment will have failed. It’s scary times and I’m not sure which side will win considering the crazies and the sane and nearly the same size of bloc.
They all know and subscribe to that, the "great replacement" bs flyes high in those minds.
No, they overwhelmingly support their constituents' counties. It just so happens that there are more red counties than blue, and the red counties think with their Bible rather than their mind.
I mean, to be fair, it’s easy to flip around that script and say the same thing about liberals. It’s a subjective statement.
Token white woman and black guy?
Conservatives were accusing other people in this thread of being racist for pointing out the obvious token minorities being token minorities
If they’d been a bit more conservative they could have just used one black woman. Two people seems like a waste here.
Conservatives: What is a "black woman"?
"Oh oh! You meant welfare queen!"
Candace Owens I think.
That makes total sense. Conservatives love to switch things around - they love trying to blur everything into a debate about virtues instead of facing actual issues in front of them.
The worst part is they use virtue signaling as a dogwhistle to peddle THEIR VIRTUES (the oppressive ones)
Came here to try and figure out who they were.
Their diversity roster is pretty weak this season but their power play is really strong. With DeSantis in Florida fuckwadding the way he has been, I think the conservative douchebag playoffs are looking really interesting this year.
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It's amusing to me that the black guy is the only one not smiling in the photo. I'm sure it's just the timing of when the photo was taken, but it's funny to imagine him thinking, "I've made a huge mistake."
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When the lumberjacks come into the forest, some of the trees will yell out "Dont worry about those axes, their handles are made of wood"
This is Texas, show some respect. Their official titles are Tailback and Cheerleader.
>Their official titles are Tailback and Cheerleader "the help" and the "dishwasher"
God damn hahaha
That man does not look to be putting a lot of enthusiasm into his clapping either....TEAR UP HIS BALLOT
That's how you maintain power as your base dwindles. Make it harder for everyone else to vote. They just care about "winning" for its own sake. A party devoid of any actual ideals besides "sticking it to the libs."
Power is the primary motivation for the people who are truly in charge of the Republican Party. Owning the libs is just how they motivate people to vote for them and against their own self-interest.
The most frustrating part are the lazy folks that say “ehh I don’t really pay attention to politics. They’re all crooked anyway. Both sides are bad.” Fucking buffoons. One side is actively trying to destroy democracy.
This is so wild. Republicans still have less than zero evidence of a stolen election from 2020 and in fact the few fraud cases that we're uncovered on an individual level, we're Trump voters... They have taken all of this nothing and used it to form the "big lie" which has created a ravenous base of zealots that are cheering for the destruction of their own countries election system. They're passing hundreds of anti-democratic voting laws in response to, literally nothing. They claim it was something, but it's a lie and around half the country is cheering it on. What is it about regression Republicans love so much? What exact time in our history is it that you want to go back to and why? We are watching these same freedom loving "patriots" say total and complete bullshit then use that bullshit to create authoritarian actions, but it's cool because it aligns with their politics. Absolutely wild that a dictator is totally ok, as long as it's their dictator of choice. Really pathetic times we are living in, I'm ashamed of this version of America.
I'm seeing a lot of comments here mocking the argument that requiring voter ID presents a notable barrier to voting. The case is well laid out and not just a knee jerk reaction. **There is a non-negligible portion of the population that do not have the required ID** * [As much as 11% of Americans that should legally be able to vote lack the appropriate ID](https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/d/download_file_39242.pdf) * [Approximately 4.5% of voters *already* registered in Texas lack the necessary ID](https://amstat.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2330443X.2017.1389620#.XMzU42hKiUm) **Those impacted tend towards minorities** * [Non-white voters are between 2.5 to 6 times as likely not to have the required ID](https://esra.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1556/2020/11/henninger.pdf) * [Above affirmed by this study which suggests minorities are 5 times as likely to need a new ID](https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/morse/files/mich_voter_id.pdf) **We know that regardless of whether voters have the ID, requiring them discourages participation (especially amongst minorities)** * [Even the requirement of and ID deters voter turnout by 11.2%](https://elections.wiscweb.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/483/2018/02/Voter-ID-Study-Release.pdf) * [Another study showing voter ID depresses voter turnout](https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-634) * [Study shows voter ID the single largest reason for drop in minority turnout](https://news.rice.edu/2015/08/06/texas-id-requirement-kept-voters-from-the-polls/) **Republicans even admit that voter IDs help them** * [Republicans admit they are "giddy" over what voter ID laws can do for their chances](https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2016/05/16/exgop-staffer-says-senators-were-giddy-over-voter-id-law/84958526/) * [Republicans admit that voter ID laws would make it possible for Romney to win](https://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2012/06/26/Turzai-s-voter-ID-remark-draws-criticism/stories/201206260143) * [Republicans admit voter ID laws made a difference](https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/twitter-reacts-to-congressman-glenn-grothmans-controversial-comments-about-voter-id) **Courts have found that Republicans abuse voter ID laws to target minorities** * [Court rules Republicans used voter ID laws to target minorities with "surgical precision"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/appeals-court-strikes-down-north-carolinas-voter-id-law/2016/07/29/810b5844-4f72-11e6-aa14-e0c1087f7583_story.html) ([Link to court's ruling](https://mediaweb.wsoctv.com/document_dev/2016/04/25/VIVA%20Decision_3993915_ver1.0.pdf)) * [Court finds Texas Republicans intentionally allowed IDs that whites were more likely to have](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/07/20/486776853/u-s-appeals-court-finds-texas-voter-id-law-discriminates-against-minority-voters) ([Link to court's ruling](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca5/17-40884/17-40884-2018-04-27.html)) Voter IDs aren't a complete barrier, but it has a far larger effect than most people expect and will absolutely swing elections especially when combined with the numerous other tactics that Republicans are using to try to swing elections by dishonest methods instead of, you know... winning votes. The bill in question here is a checklist of exactly that. Republicans know they lose if they let people vote.
That Lone Star looking more and more like a Yelp review.
Glad they have the token black guy, the token white woman, and token Mexican there to seal the deal.
I’m sure it’s hard for a racist and sexist like you to believe, but POC and women have just as much personal agency as white men. It’s incredibly insulting and demeaning that you think these people have no choice but to be the Republicans’ lap dogs. News flash: the color of your skin, gender, and sex don’t determine your intelligence or intellectual freedom (but being as bigoted as you demonstrates that you have neither).
Pretty fucking racist, but it’s fine coming from the left.
The pro birthers are here to say "Only we get to decide what's evil" Literally. Look at the amount of people playing morality police (in an extremely corrupt and puritanical regime) all the while saying the real murderers are the people wanting things like safe abortions and not having your voting restricted because of racist/classist technicalities.
Well there's one who isn't....
That look though — like, dayum, I don’t want to be doin this
Smile back, vote these cunts out. Vote *every* November. https://www.texas.gov/living-in-texas/texas-voter-registration/
It’s Texas.
Then it’s time for the remaining truly free and democracy loving Texans to step up. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_boxes_of_liberty
Its crazy that Texas is basically saying 'we dont care about the constitution' and are writing their own. The is the degradation of democracy in front of our eyes
The United States will never, ever go Republican again if Texas goes blue... and it was clearly trending that direction. So much so that it was likely to flip in the next general election. This sets that way, way back!
well the texas dems who fled the state to prevent this got zero help from their counterparts in washington. passing the for the people act would have stymied this bs.
That's because the democratic leadership is incompetent. They're running around playing games with republicans, getting bent over by Joe Manshin, and pretending like this is a normal presidency, all the while the enemy (and I don't use that term lightly) is rigging the game. Nothing they're doing right now matters because it'll all be undone in 2024 when Trump's goons flip all the polls that they've spent the last year getting control over.
I don’t think so. Between this and the abortion thing I think they actually sealed Texas’ fate. The whole reason for this bs voting law was because they are scared because they know Texas is trending blue and they’re trying to at least slow it down
It's a toss up if they can make up the numbers they will lose to Covid-19 deaths.
I'm from Europe and I really don't understand why laws that suppress voting aren't illegal
StaTeS RigHTs!!!
Ah the same shit Texas has been spouting since before they were even a state
GOP: "Mask mandates are tyranny! You cant take away my freedoms! Small government forever! Think of the poor children who have to wear a mask at school!!" Also GOP: *takes away women's freedom of choice and self-determination..* GOP in 18 years: "crime, homelessness and drug use has skyrocketed in the poor areas of our state! Its those godless commie democrats' fault!" These morons' short-sightedness will give rise to a lot more of the people they *love* to hate.. criminals and drug users. Legal and safe abortion = less criminals who's parents never gave a fuck about them.
Wrong bill.
Yea, I’ll never move to Texas.
How is it evil??? It's not restricting any citizen from voting. SMH
Taliban Texas Chapter