Our agenda is packed! We will share information on volunteer opportunities for the May election, dates for Candidate Forums the Voter Guide and more.
And we have a special speaker, Veronikah Warms, from the Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP).
Veronikah is leading the Voting Rights Project for TCRP that is monitoring Voting Rights legislation during this Texas session. Veronikah authors email updates to keep us informed, engaged and advocating. An example of the information you will receive from Veronica is below.
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The Texas Civil Rights Project will be sending out bill tracking and other updates for the 88th Texas Legislature related to our three program areas (Beyond Borders, Criminal Injustice, and Voting Rights)."
You can sign-up here for the bill tracking: TCRP Sign-up Form for Bill Tracking
We look forward to seeing everyone and a lively discussion!
Robin Lederer and Barbara Larkin, LWVD
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Excerpt from February 15, 2023 email from Veronikah Warms:
New Bills We are Watching
First up, two identical bills (HB 2020 & SB 823) were filed that would authorize the Secretary of State (SOS) to suspend a county’s election administrator (EA) if SOS receives an administrative election complaint and has “good cause to believe” that there is a “recurring pattern of problems with election administration” in the EA’s county. Examples of “problems'' include any “malfunction of voting system equipment; unfair distribution of election supplies; errors in tabulation of results; delays in reporting election returns; and discovery of voted ballots after the polls close.” The bills also require SOS to fill any EA vacancy caused by suspending the EA until the “recurring pattern of problems” is resolved.
These bills are among the most serious election subversion proposals we have seen so far this Session, and are similar in spirit to a bill that Georgia passed in 2021 authorizing partisan takeovers of local election offices. They would authorize the Secretary of State to effectively take over local election offices based on a minimal finding of “problems” in local election administration. In theory, the Secretary of State could seize control of a county election office because two pieces of voting equipment have malfunctioned – a common enough occurrence in even the best run counties. Moreover, the Secretary of State is an appointee of a partisan official (the Governor) who potentially stands to benefit from the exercise of this power, yet there are no checks in the bill against abuse of this novel authority.
Veronikah Warms
Pronouns: she/her
Legal Fellow, Voting Rights Project
Texas Civil Rights Project