Tag Archives: voter suppression

The case of the no-evidence lawsuit

Posted on April 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The lack of evidence in the Harris County election lawsuits is so glaring, I don’t know how we’re talking about anything else. In the weeks following Harris County’s November election, 22 Republican candidates who lost their races filed lawsuits challenging the … Continue reading →

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There were fewer voting sites with paper issues than we thought

Posted on April 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

That’s my takeaway from this. On Election Day last year, an unusual problem occurred around 6 p.m. — the polling place at El Lago City Hall ran out of paper ballots. Republican presiding judge Chris Russo, the election worker running … Continue reading →

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Lege may fix one particularly dumb aspect of its omnibus voter suppression law

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A small bit of progress. Texas lawmakers are trying to undo an expensive election problem they didn’t realize they had created in the first place. In 2021, they passed a law that is set to require counties to purchase vote-counting … Continue reading →

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A brief but dismal legislative update

Posted on April 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Just a few recent news stories, to give you an idea of what’s happening in the Legislative session, and why I have been avoiding it. Item 1: Republican Texas senators on Monday reversed themselves and voted against allowing transgender kids currently being treated with puberty … Continue reading →

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There’s nothing like ERIC

Posted on April 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Be careful what you seek to destroy, Republicans. With some Texas Republicans pushing the state to abandon one its best tools for preventing voter fraud — a coalition of states that share voting roll data to weed out duplicate and … Continue reading →

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Founder of that voter roll maintenance program that election denialists hate has stepped down

Posted on March 15, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure this will calm everyone down and restore the faith everyone once had in this program. Right? David Becker, an election law advocate who helped create the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), is vacating his position on its board … Continue reading →

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The latest obsession of election denialist crackpots

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

You may want to sit down before you read this. In virtual meetings taking place over a year, right-wing activists and Republican legislators have stoked concern over a multistate coalition that Texas and more than 30 other states use to … Continue reading →

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You still have time to donate to the Democratic judges’ legal fund

Posted on March 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Just a reminder: Here @JudgeGenesis Draper. She is 1 of 17 elected Harris County Dem. judges sued to undo ‘22 election. Judges can’t take pro bono help to defend selves. Can’t let Mattress Mack undo election wins. Clubs In Action … Continue reading →

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In support of Crystal Mason

Posted on February 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Hoping for the best. The same month Tarrant County officials announced the creation of an election integrity task force, a group of 14 bipartisan prosecutors threw their weight behind an effort to acquit the woman at the center of a high-profile … Continue reading →

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You can help Democrats being sued by election losers

Posted on February 13, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox, sent to me by former HD133 candidate Sandra Moore: Below is a list of the judges and electeds being sued by the Republicans. These are nuisance suits but the Judges and Lina have had to hire attorneys … Continue reading →

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The big voter suppression law is even worse than you thought

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Such a lovely little surprise tucked in there. When state lawmakers passed a sweeping and controversial new election law in 2021, they quietly included a provision that drew little notice or debate. But election administration experts say the measure is … Continue reading →

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What I want from the next HCDP Chair

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, the Harris County Democratic Party will soon have a new Chair. And as you know, I am a Democratic precinct chair, which means I’m one of the several hundred people that will vote on who that is. … Continue reading →

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The next round of voter suppression bills are coming

Posted on January 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Brace yourselves. Texas Republicans spent most of the 2021 legislative session focusing on election security — and this year, it’s a top priority for them again. GOP leaders are discussing a range of election security measures, from higher penalties for … Continue reading →

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More on the lawsuit against Paxton’s deranged ballot access opinion

Posted on January 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

There are actually three counties suing him, not just the one I had originally noted. At least three Texas counties — Tarrant, Williamson, and Harris — have sued Attorney General Ken Paxton and are asking a judge to strike down a legal … Continue reading →

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Paxton sued over his deranged ballot access opinion

Posted on January 15, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The Williamson County attorney’s office has sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claiming a ruling he made that gives the public immediate access to ballots after an election violates state law. County officials, the lawsuit said, can be charged … Continue reading →

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Additional Losing Candidates File Election Contests in Harris County

Posted on January 7, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the subject of the following email I got in my inbox yesterday, and I can’t do any better than that for a post title. Additional Losing Candidates File Election Contests in Harris County Houston, Texas – Today, several losing Republican … Continue reading →

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November 2022 mail ballot rejection report

Posted on December 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Still getting better, still some room to improve. The statewide ballot rejection rate dramatically reduced to 2.7 percent in the general election this fall after it had skyrocketed to six times that in the primaries following the introduction of a … Continue reading →

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Judge assigned to hear election loser contest

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox, a press release from Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee: Judge David Peeples will preside over the election contest filed by Republican candidate Erin Lunceford to void the results of her race for the 189th District Court in … Continue reading →

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At least we avoided violence

Posted on December 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve tried and failed to come up with a better post title than that for this. After two years of fears of electoral dysfunction and violence, voting rights advocates breathed bated sighs of relief this week as Texas finished a … Continue reading →

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And now we have a judicial loser contesting the election

Posted on December 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Republicans did warn us they’d be sore losers. Republican judicial candidate Erin Lunceford filed a petition Wednesday seeking a new election in Harris County’s 189th judicial district court race after losing by 2,743 votes out of more than 1 … Continue reading →

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Your periodic reminder that Ken Paxton’s vote fraud claims are bullshit

Posted on November 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A long Chron story that documents the bullshit. The first of the big cases to fizzle was in Gregg County. Prosecutors and local politicians announced an investigation soon after county commissioner candidate Shannon Brown won the March 2018 Precinct 4 … Continue reading →

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Mail ballot rejections were down for November

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good, but still room for more improvement. More than 10,000 ballots were rejected in the state’s largest counties in Tuesday’s midterm election, making for a rejection rate of about 4 percent, according to preliminary data from the secretary of state’s … Continue reading →

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So what if anything will come of that SCOTx ruling on the extra voting time?

Posted on November 10, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I have no idea. The Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday set the stage for a legal fight over whether to count ballots Harris County voters cast during an extended hour of voting ordered by a lower court. That lower court … Continue reading →

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What AG “task force”?

Posted on November 10, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Who knows? The fact that Paxton – who helped lead the charge to overturn the 2020 national election results and promoted false claims that it was stolen – now planned to send people from his office to monitor Harris County … Continue reading →

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Justice Department agrees to send election monitors

Posted on November 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday it will send election monitors to three Texas counties — Harris, Dallas and Waller — to keep an eye on local compliance with federal voting rights laws on Election Day. Monitors from … Continue reading →

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Fewer mail ballots rejected in November

Posted on November 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good, but still could be better. Local election officials in Texas are reporting a drop in the percentage of mail ballots that have so far been flagged for rejection during the ongoing midterm elections, as compared with a spike earlier … Continue reading →

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John Scott keeps wanting to have it both ways

Posted on November 3, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

You’re kind of close to getting it, John. You do need to do better, though. Speaking in July to a group of concerned conservative voters in Dallas, Texas Secretary of State John Scott declared that Texas elections were the nation’s … Continue reading →

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How long has it been since the Fifth Circuit upheld a voter suppression law?

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

However long it’s been, they’re back at it. A federal appeals court on Wednesday revived a 2021 Texas law that set new residency requirements for voter registration, including one that civil rights groups alleged essentially blocked college students from signing … Continue reading →

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Charges dropped against Hervis Rogers

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good, but this whole thing was an enraging travesty and in no way makes things right. Voter fraud charges against Hervis Rogers, who garnered widespread attention for waiting hours in line to vote at a Houston polling location during the … Continue reading →

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Of course voters of color has more mail ballots rejected

Posted on October 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Water is wet, the sun rises in the east, voter suppression laws disproportionately affect voters of color. Alice Yi of Austin is frustrated when she thinks about the March primary election, when her 92-year-old father tried to vote by mail, … Continue reading →

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Harris County asks for federal vote monitors

Posted on October 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I agree with this. Houston and Harris County officials are asking the U.S. Department of Justice’s civil rights division to send monitors to assist in the upcoming November election in response to a letter the county received from the Texas … Continue reading →

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I think you know the root cause of the problem, John

Posted on October 11, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I was fascinated by this Texas Monthly feature on Secretary of State John Scott, who is being pushed to reckon with the insane and dangerous levels of election denial and anti-democratic activism. I’m pretty sure he gets it, he just … Continue reading →

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Our big mail ballot test is now underway

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Sure hope we do better this time. Harris County officials on Monday urged residents to follow the correct mail voting guidance as the end-of-the-month deadline to apply for mail-in ballots for the 2022 midterm elections nears. This year’s primary elections … Continue reading →

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The professional vote-deniers are out there

Posted on October 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

They’re probing the systems for weaknesses, a line that reminds me of the velociraptors in the original Jurassic Park. Except that the ‘raptors were sleek and efficient predators, while these guys are basically Pennywise with canned scripts and a huge … Continue reading →

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