Rick Perry’s Veto Pen Did Plenty Of Dirty Work

Texas Governor Rick Perry’s veto pen did plenty of dirty work this session.

Aside from his line-item vetos on the budget (veto message) cutting everything from special funding for universities to Medicaid funding and community college employee insurance, his veto of Rep. Norma Chavez’s bill on the Skills Development Fund (veto message), and his veto of the school bus idling measure (veto message), many of the other vetos really haven’t made much news.

In all, Perry vetoed 49 bills (complete list).

Here is one that caught our attention:

HB No. 770 (Dutton, Lucio), relating to requiring the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to provide notice to certain persons of the right to vote. (veto message). Here is why Perry claims he vetoed:

Their role is to incarcerate and rehabilitate offenders, and we should not divert resources away from this difficult task by mandating that TDCJ register inmates that are leaving the system or track down each convict when their parole or probation is over to encourage them to vote…

Second, the state does not currently provide this service to law-abiding citizens, such as high school graduates who are new to voting. I find it unseemly that the state would make a greater effort to register former inmates to vote than we would any other group of citizens in this state. Third, when an individual is released from prison and their rights are restored, it is imperative that they take personal responsibility for all aspects of their life, including their right to vote.

There are a couple of flaws in his logic. First, the state does provide this “service” to high school graduates. Every high school principal is, pursuant to Texas Election Code  §13.06, every high school principal is a deputy voter registrar. Furthermore, graduation has nothing to do with requirements to vote; it’s when the students reach age 18 which may or may not happen while they are in high school.

Second, the need for this service for former felons is because they may not be aware of the fact their voting rights have been restored. Personal responsibility aside, they simply may not be aware. Third, for those who are aware, and call their county clerk or voter registrar, they may be told they are, in fact, not eligible to register because of confusion about the law.

There are more. We’ll take a look at them throughout the week.

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