80th Legislature: Democrats Try To Reform Elections, Republicans Try To Suppress Voters

The Texas House is nothing if not a chamber of ironies.

Consider this: within the same seven days, Republicans will do their best to try to disenfranchise millions of Texas voters while Democrats will do their party to make sure that no small group of wealthy donors can control the electoral process.

Cue Alanis here.

First, let’s take the good news:

On Wednesday, House Democrats will lay out House Bill 111 before the House Elections Committee (which happens to be dominated by right-wingers including Chairman Leo Berman (R-Tyler).

The long and short of this bill is that it prohibits individuals, partnerships, partners, or LLC’s from contributing more than $100,000 in aggregate during a two-year election cycle to a general purpose Political Action Committee, candidates, or specific-purpose PACs.

(Actually, our sources tell us there will be a Committee Substitute to HB 111, but it only changes a couple of sentences; it isn’t online yet.)

HB 111 is by Rep. Mike Villarreal (D-San Antonio), who has become one of the bright spots of the mind-numbingly neurotic 80th Legislature, and Rep. Mark Strama (D-Austin), a very promising Democratic leader.

This bill will prevent people like James Leininger and Bob “Swift Boat” Perry from essentially being able to waltz in and buy a state house seat for half a million dollars. In short, it will reduce the influence of dangerous special interests and put candidates on a more level playing field when it comes to dollars.

Now, the bad news:

[Originally scheduled for today and now likely postponed until reset for] Thursday Tuesday TODAY, the House will take up and consider on second reading a pair of fundamentally egregious Voter ID bills. [see note at the end of this post]
These bills, HBs 218 and 626 tinker with the electoral process in a couple of different ways. HB 218 is a typical “Voter ID” bill which requires voters to prevent identification above and beyond their voter registration certificate at the polls and makes requirements for ID voters must provide if they don’t have their registration certificate more stringent.

HB 626 would effectively end mail-in voter registration as we know it and halt all voter registration drives. Why? Because every voter would have to provide proof of citizenship in order to be able to register to vote.

First, let’s tackle 626. HB 626 is legislation that would keep millions of elderly, low-income, and minority Texans off the voter rolls. It’s wrapped in anti-immigrant rhetoric and implies that illegal aliens are lining up to register to vote and thus, the rest of the state’s citizens should be penalized for it.

This bill would require you to present proof of citizenship (birth certificate, passport, or naturalization papers) upon registering to vote. Since most folks don’t have such documents handy, you can see how this would hamper every known form of voter registration drive.
It also poses a terrible economic cost on low-income and elderly Texans. The cost of obtaining a certified copy of a birth certificate isn’t cheap. For a low-income or elderly individual to have to chose between putting food on their table, buying their medication, or purchasing a certified copy of their birth certificate to register to vote is an unconscionable choice. It simply offends one’s sensibilities of what is and is not appropriate, sound, public policy.

Have you ever purchased a birth certificate? If you were born in Texas, you’ll have to shell out about $30 bucks. If you were born outside Texas, who knows what you may have to shell out. What about a passport? Try over $100 bucks.

As for naturalization papers, did you know it’s illegal to photocopy them? So, if someone showed up to register to vote with a copy of their naturalization papers thinking that would be sufficient to register, they could, in fact, be charged with a crime. Obtaining certified copies of those is neither easy or cheap if you are a naturalized citizen.

This impacts minorities, too. If you are African American or Hispanic and were born before the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, chances are you weren’t born in a hospital. And, if you aren’t of Social Security benefits age, you may not even have a birth certificate. In order to obtain one, you’d have to jump through some massive hoops, including having to locate people who are alive that can verify that you, in fact, came out of your mother’s womb on the day you claim you did.

Republicans, of course, will gloss over this argument claiming that we’re crying wolf and that it’s no big deal. If so, then they should stroll a minority community and ask how many elderly residents have a birth certificate—or have ever had one.

Furthermore, for the oldest of Texans—minority or not—many weren’t born in hospitals. Believe it or not, but through the 1940s in non-urban areas, it was not uncommon to be born at home.

Consider this, as well, from the Texas State Library & Archives Commission [emphasis mine]:

Births were registered from 1873 to 1876 by the district clerk during the period when the office of the county clerk was abolished. When the office of county clerk was re-established in 1876, the requirement that births be registered was dropped; whether deliberately or through oversight is not known. This early birth record has survived in most counties and is included in this guide under the Birth Record, which begins in 1903 with the revival of mandatory registration. The county clerk was not the only registrar for births in a county — many justices of the peace and city secretaries also recorded births — and efforts have been made to film the birth records of these officials whenever possible. The fact that many city secretaries were local registrars should be kept in mind by the researcher; the absence of a birth record with the county clerk does not necessarily mean a person was not born in the county. If he or she was born in the city limits of a city in which the city secretary acted as a local registrar, the record of birth will not likely appear among the records of the county clerk, because city secretaries, unlike justices of the peace, were not required to forward birth records to the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Austin through county clerks.

Beginning in 1939, persons were permitted to provide proofs of birth and receive a delayed birth certificate, which was recorded by county clerks in the Birth Record (Delayed) (sometimes titled Probate Birth Record, Old Date Birth Record, or Affidavit Birth Record). The bulk of this record in most counties falls between 1941 and 1946 when persons seeking to retire under the Social Security Act sought birth certificates in large numbers. Prior to 1959, persons could apply for delayed birth certificates in the county of their residence regardless of their birthplace. Beginning in 1960, only person born in a county could obtain a delayed birth certificate in that county. Amended birth certificates were recorded in many counties in the Birth Record (Corrected).

So, there is a chance, even if you did have a birth certificate issued when you were born, you may never be able to find a record of it anywhere in the state. It probably turned to dust or was eaten by rats a long time ago.

Why should we be forcing our elderly Texans to jump through such hoops? If move, boom, you’ve got to go through this whole process again. It’s terrible.

Of course, Republicans claim this is all necessary because so many illegal immigrants are on voter rolls across the state. That’s a baldface lie. There is zero evidence of this or widespread voter fraud which would make such measures necessary.
The unintended consequence is that U.S. Citizens, the very people who should be able to vote easily and register to vote easily, will neither be able to register to vote nor eventually have their vote count. There will be millions who will never be registered because they don’t have the appropriate documentation, can’t get it, or can’t afford it.

This also creates an opportunity for identity theft because HB 626 requires people who register by mail to send the identity documents through the mail in easy to recognize envelopes. Gee, that’s smart.

Now, let’s consider HB 218.

As we’ve told you on numerous occasions, HB 218 alone is a train wreck:

The bill would require every voter to show one of the following in addition to their voter registration certificate:

*  driver’s license or personal identification card issued by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) that has not expired or expired within two years of the date of presentation;
* U.S. military identification card containing the person’s photograph;
* valid employee identification card containing the person’s photograph;
* U.S. citizenship certificate that contains the person’s photograph;
* U.S. passport issued to the person;
* student identification card issued by a public or private institution of higher education located in Texas that contains the person’s photograph; or
* license to carry a concealed handgun issued by DPS.

And, if they can’t, they must show two pieces of ID from the following list:

*  copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter;
* official mail addressed to the person by name from a governmental entity;
* certified copy of a birth certificate or other acceptable document confirming birth;
* U.S. citizenship papers;
* original or certified copy of a person’s marriage license or divorce decree;
* court records of a person’s adoption or name or sex change;
* identification card issued by a governmental entity for the purpose of obtaining public benefits, including veteran’s benefits, Medicaid, or Medicare;
* temporary driving permit issued to the person by DPS;
* pilot’s license issued to the person by an authorized federal agency;
* library card, containing the person’s name, issued by a public library located in this state; or
* hunting or fishing license issued to the person by the Parks and Wildlife Department.

Clearly, for reasons we’ve mentioned time and again, this bill is bad public policy and serves to disenfranchise Texas voters.

Now, for that all important note:

[All day today, Capitol Annex heard these bills would be back Thursday. However, there has been some serious merry-go-rounding. Last night, Elections voted out the bills; then, they were sent to calendars, and were put BACK ON THE SCHEDULE FOR TODAY!!!!]