TYLER, Texas (KXAN) — On Tuesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law the controversial state elections bill that's been widely criticized as an attempt to make it more challenging for some Texans to vote.
Senate Bill 1, touted by state Republicans as a way to secure Texas elections, will trigger several changes to elections operations, including bans on 24-hour polling places, increased ID requirements, restrict drive-through voting and limit voting by mail. The bill will also allow partisan poll watchers to observe at polling sites — and will also make it a criminal offense for local officials to send voters requests for mail-in ballots.
"What it [SB 1] does is it ensures that every eligible voter will have the opportunity to vote," said Abbott on Tuesday.
While there is no evidence of widespread fraud in recent state elections, preventing fraud was made a priority by the Texas GOP during regular and special legislative sessions. Back in July, House Democrats left the state for Washington, D.C., to prevent the bill's passage.
Abbott claimed during a Tuesday bill signing in Tyler that mail-in ballots are the "easiest way" to cheat and will be even further limited. The governor praised the bill for its expansion of voting hours, quizzically comparing them to the voting hours in President Joe Biden's home state of Delaware.
Detractors of SB 1, particularly Democrats, say will make it harder for certain Texans to have their votes count — especially communities of color.
But research shows it can be harder for poor, Black, and Latino communities to get identification.
Under new state election laws, voters will need to provide driver's license numbers or Social Security numbers on the ballots. Whichever numbers are provided to poll workers must match the information indicated on a person's voting record.
The American Civil Liberties Union explains reasons for difficulties obtaining ID include the number of fees necessary to get documents needed for an ID to be issued, in addition to lack of transportation. Additionally, poorer and minority communities are more likely to have fewer convenient polling places — and are more likely to face possibly intimidating questioning about their IDs once they're there.
Despite becoming law at around 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, lawsuits against SB 1 were filed by 11:30 a.m.
The League of United American Citizens (LULAC) announced Tuesday morning that along with a group of other civil rights organizations, it filed a federal lawsuit against the bill "rigged to deny our communities whose numbers are growing" of votes.
Former Texas U.S. Rep. and current state political activist Beto O'Rourke issued a statement Tuesday, saying: "Governor Abbott is restricting the freedom to vote for millions of Texans. Instead of working on issues that actually matter, like protecting school kids from COVID or fixing our failing electrical grid, Abbott is focused on rigging our elections and implementing extreme, right-wing policies."
O'Rourke said within the past week — as both the elections bill and Texas' equally condemned abortion restriction bill passed — his organization Powered By People saw a dramatic rise in sign ups for voter registration.
On Tuesday, Abbott added that challenges to SB 1 are expected.
"I'd be astonished if a law like this were not challenged in court," said Abbott on Tuesday. "We've seen it happen whenever laws like this are passed. The first thing the Democrats do is they run to the courthouse and try to challenge it. I feel extremely confident that when this law makes it through the litigation phase, it will be upheld in a court of law."
0 Comments