FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 1, 2021
Contact: Prudence Robertson, probertson@sbalist.org (240) 672-2828
Voter Integrity Protects the Right of Every Texan to Vote in Free & Fair Elections
Washington, D.C. – The Texas legislature has finalized an agreement on landmark legislation to help protect fair, transparent, and secure elections, sending it to Governor Abbott to be signed into law. Most importantly, the legislation includes voter I.D. protections standardizing I.D. requirements for ballots-by-mail and voting in person. Voting-by-mail in Texas has lacked the protections that voting in-person provides; ballots can get lost, signature validation can be subjective, and the ballot can be vulnerable to fraud, voter intimidation, or deception.
According to a July TPPF and Rasmussen poll, Texans overwhelmingly support voter I.D. and protections for mail-in ballots. In fact, more than 80% of Texans support requiring voters to show a valid ID before voting, with just 11% opposing the requirement. In addition, 67% of Texans support voter ID protections for mail-in ballots, while only 22% oppose them.
National Chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli praised the legislation, issuing the following statement:
“After months of unprecedented obstruction from certain Texas Democrats who prefer it to be easy to cheat in Texas elections, we’re grateful that the House and Senate have come together in a truly historic effort to achieve more fair, secure and transparent elections all Texans can trust. Asking voters to show an I.D. to vote is simply commonsense – there is no reason why voting-by-mail should have fewer safeguards than voting in-person. A consistent voter I.D. requirement helps guarantee that all voters play by the same set of rules and that every vote is counted fairly and legally. Americans have the right to be confident that it is easy to vote and hard to cheat in our elections, and that is why ensuring voting is easy and accessible cannot come by eliminating voting safeguards. We thank Governor Abbott for his diligence and urge him to sign this voter integrity legislation into law without delay.”
“Make no mistake, Texas Democrats fled Austin to places like Washington, DC and Europe, abandoning their constituents (and their credibility), and enthusiastically violated their sworn oaths to faithfully execute their duties as members of the Texas legislature. But after intense public backlash and internal polling foretelling an incalculable PR disaster for them, many Texas Democrats fled right back in a national embarrassment. Now that basic election integrity standards will become law in Texas, they want congressional Democrats to nullify and override the votes of Texans who voted to elect a GOP legislature – to pass Texas laws – in the first place. The truth is that the national Democrats’ planned takeover of state elections is radical, unconstitutional, and authoritarian. It must be rejected.”
The Texas legislation would further ensure that voter lists are accurate and that registrars do their duty in maintaining them, prevent the sending of unsolicited mail in ballots, fight ballot trafficking and increase criminal penalties for this offense. Additionally, it ensures the disability provision allowed for voting-by-mail is not exploited by bad actors, more fairly allocates voting hours, and machines, and strengthens provisions relating to security in elections administration. A separate bill signed into law in June, HB 2283, prohibits private ideological groups, corporations, and big tech companies from funding local elections to selectively affect turnout.
National Democrats’ planned takeover of state elections is predicated on a voter suppression myth. What do real ‘Jim Crow’ laws look like? Georgia’s 1958 civics test was used to block black citizens from voting, but it was not only southern states discriminating against voters. California, Connecticut, Delaware, and more also had constitutional and/or statutory provisions to impede minority voting at various times in their history.
Recent national polls show the majority of voters, including Black and Hispanic voters, as well as urban and independent voters, overwhelmingly support voter I.D. protections and want it to be easy to vote and hard to cheat.
The Election Transparency Initiative, a partnership between American Principles Project (APP) and the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), was organized to combat H.R. 1/S. 1 and advocate for state-based election reforms that voters can trust.
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