Camel’s nose in the tent alert.
Still the only voter ID anyone should need
Texas could be forced to create at least one narrow avenue for online voter registration after a federal judge ruled that the state is violating the National Voter Registration Act, a decades-old federal law aimed at making it easier for people to register to vote by forcing states to allow registration while drivers apply for or renew their driver’s licenses.
Texas allows people renew their licenses online, but doesn’t allow them to register to vote at the same time. Last week, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia told the state to fix that.
And while the Texas Attorney General’s Office has said it will appeal that ruling, supporters of online voter registration are hoping that a court-ordered online system for drivers will open the floodgates to broader implementation in Texas.
Once such a system is in place for some, supporters ask, why not broaden it to everyone else?
[…]
Legislation has been raised several times — championed in recent years by state Rep. Celia Israel, D-Austin — but it has never made it to the governor’s desk.
In 2015, Israel touted bipartisan support for the bill after 75 other state representatives, including more than 20 Republicans, signed on. But in the most recent legislative session, Israel’s proposal hardly gained any traction, even with the endorsement of many of the state’s election officials — tax assessors and voter registrars, election administrators, county clerks and the Texas Association of Counties.
Now, Israel says she is eying a possible online system for drivers as a test run that could help make her case at the Capitol for full-blown online registration.
“There are a lot of misconceptions about online voter registration, and this is a step in the right direction,” Israel said. “The truth of the matter is that online voter registration is more secure than our current paper process, and it is going to save our counties precious time and money.”
The only real opposition to her proposal seems to come from detractors in the populous Harris County. Officials from the Harris County Clerk’s Office have warned that online voter registration could leave the state vulnerable to voter fraud.
See here and here for the background. Don’t get too excited about this, because even if this ruling survives appeal and isn’t put on hold for the duration of the case, it’s still a limited implementation of online registration that could be ordered. That’s unlikely to change the opposition that exists, though installing a new Harris County Clerk would help in that regard. We’re going to need a lot more change in the Legislature before we’re likely to get true online voter registration, or really anything to make it easier to register people. Progress is progress and it would be great if we get even this much. I’m just saying we need to keep some perspective on what that would mean.
While trying to find an application for registering to vote, I found that I could not locate one. One that could be printed without filling out the blanks and registering online. Went to vote on Monday and asked if they had any there and they didn’t. Little things that make it difficult for helping people register to vote by handing out applications.
The Russian puppet and the Republicans/Trump Party need to be sent a message that America is not for sale to foreigners whose goal is to destroy Democracy.
The Texas Attorney General, née criminally indicted Texas AG Ken Paxton, is actively seeking to prevent simplified registration for citizens.
It is the AG’s job to protect and defend citizens!
National Voter Registration Act of 1993 went into effect in 1995.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Voter_Registration_Act_of_1993
It passed 62-36, Phil Graham voting against, Robert Kreuger for.
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/103-1993/s118