Tag Archives: Department of Motor Vehicles

How’s that online voter registration thing going?

Posted on December 28, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Pretty well, it seems. So well, perhaps, that the state of Texas doesn’t want to tell you how well. Since a federal judge forced Texas nearly a year and a half ago to offer limited online voter registration, 1.5 million … Continue reading →

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Final settlement in Motor Voter 2.0 lawsuit

Posted on August 4, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

From Democracy Docket: Last Friday, individual Texan voters, the Texas Democratic Party, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) settled a five-year long lawsuit with Texas over its noncompliance with the National Voter Registration … Continue reading →

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More on DPS and data protection

Posted on December 1, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

A followup from the DMN about that data breach involving every drivers license number you’ve ever had. Some other states do not sell [drivers’ license] data, but Texas does. State lawmakers could change the law in their 2021 session. I … Continue reading →

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DPS needs to do better with data protection

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Oops. You’ve been hacked. We’ve all been hacked. No one else has said it, but The Watchdog will. This is likely the largest and one of the more significant data breaches ever to hit Texans. About 27.7 million Texas driver’s … Continue reading →

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Hey, look, it’s online voter registration!

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

And they said it couldn’t be done. When Jarrod Stringer updated his driver’s license address in 2014, the Texas Department of Public Safety website asked if he wanted to register to vote. He clicked yes and thought he was registered. … Continue reading →

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Plaintiffs prevail again in Motor Voter Lawsuit 2.0

Posted on August 30, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Same result as before, this time without the technicality that got the first try thrown out on appeal. A persistent Texas voter, twice thwarted when he tried registering to vote while renewing his driver’s license online, has for the second … Continue reading →

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The next round in the Motor Voter 2.0 lawsuit

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Score one for the plaintiffs. Finding Texas in violation of federal law, a U.S. judge gave civil rights lawyers a small win Thursday — fueling hopes of a wider victory in a continuing fight over the state’s online voter registration … Continue reading →

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“Motor voter” lawsuit 2.0

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Try, try again, this time hopefully addressing the cause of the Fifth Court of Appeals’ rejection of the first lawsuit. The first time former English professor Jarrod Stringer was told he couldn’t vote in a Texas election, he sued. A … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit overturns “motor voter” lawsuit verdict

Posted on November 15, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Bummer. Totally expected and completely on brand for the Fifth Circuit, but a bummer nonetheless. A federal appeals court has overturned a previous ruling that could have opened the door to online voter registration in Texas. In a Wednesday court … Continue reading →

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CD23 update

Posted on November 13, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Today is the last day to cure a provisional ballot. In the meantime, the counting goes on in the closest Texas Congressional race. Election officials in 29 Texas counties are furiously counting outstanding votes in the Congressional District 23 election, … Continue reading →

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State appeals “motor voter” ruling

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

No surprise. The legal fight over whether Texas is disenfranchising thousands of voters by violating a federal voter registration law is on its way to federal appeals court. Just after a federal judge gave Texas less than two months to … Continue reading →

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State offers no fixes for “motor voter” law non-compliance

Posted on May 19, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I’m shocked, I tell you, shocked. Told it was breaking the law, and asked to propose a fix, Texas seems to have mostly declined. Following a ruling last month that Texas was violating a federal law designed to ease the voter registration … Continue reading →

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State ordered to come up with fix for voter registration problems

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

The clock is ticking. Texas has less than a week to tell a federal judge in San Antonio how it will begin complying with the National Voter Registration Act, a decades-old federal law aimed at making it easier for people … Continue reading →

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Texas loses another voting rights lawsuit

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Anyone else detecting a pattern here? Handing the state another voting rights loss, a federal judge has sided with a civil rights group that claimed Texas violated federal law by failing to register residents to vote when they updated their … Continue reading →

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Some Texas voting rights lawsuit updates

Posted on April 9, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This has been a busy week for litigation related to voting rights issues in Texas. Here are updates to some cases, all of which happened this past week. From Texas Redistricting: The three-judge panel in the Texas redistricting case has … Continue reading →

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AG’s office sanctioned in voter registration lawsuit

Posted on February 19, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

They were warned. A federal judge has ordered sanctions against the state of Texas for blowing past deadlines and ignoring a court order to hand over thousands of pages of documents in a lawsuit challenging its voter registration practices. Texas … Continue reading →

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State fails to respond to voter registration lawsuit

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s an update on a different voting rights lawsuit from last year. Civil rights lawyers suing Texas over its voter registration practices are asking a federal judge to sanction the state for allegedly blowing past deadlines and ignoring a court … Continue reading →

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The Uberization of moving companies

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

For when you don’t have a friend with a pickup truck and you need to move on the cheap. A new breed of online moving companies with names like Buddytruk and PICKUP has drawn interest from the Texas Department of … Continue reading →

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SOS to review motor voter complaints

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I hope this amounts to more than lip service. The Texas Secretary of State has agreed to study why thousands of Texans have complained over the past year and a half that they had problems registering to vote despite a … Continue reading →

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Texas throws in the towel with the Fifth Circuit

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Hallelujah. The 5th Circuit should affirm a lower court ruling that overturned Texas’ long-standing ban on same-sex marriage, Scott Keller, the state’s solicitor general, wrote in a letter to the appellate court. That letter was in response to the appellate … Continue reading →

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Vehicle registration renewal error notice

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

The following is a public service announcement. From the inbox: 320,000 Texas Drivers Receive Error in Renewal Notice Mike Sullivan wants to ensure Harris County drivers are aware of issue Tax Assessor-Collector Mike Sullivan wants to ensure Harris County drivers … Continue reading →

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Sticker reduction coming

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Harris County is gearing up for a new Texas Two Step. Beginning March 1, 2015, the state will no longer issue vehicle inspection stickers and will move to a “Two Steps, One Sticker” program. Under the new … Continue reading →

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Say goodbye to some specialty license plates

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Nothing lasts forever. Dr. Pepper, the National Wild Turkey Foundation and the Fort Worth Zoo are among 56 groups that will no longer grace the bumpers of Texas cars and trucks unless sales pick up. Under new rules set between … Continue reading →

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MyPlates doing well

Posted on June 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. Specialty license plates sales have generated $10.5 million for the state’s general revenue fund so far, and the program will likely exceed the $25 million five-year-contract guarantee from My Plates, a marketing company that provides Texans more … Continue reading →

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Texas SCV sues over Confederate license plate rejection

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In November, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles unanimously rejected an application for a specialty license plate displaying the Confederate battle flag. The Texas Sons of Confederate Veterans has now filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn that decision. The Texas … Continue reading →

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DMV votes down Confederate license plates

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. The state Department of Motor Vehicles’ governing board this morning voted down a controversial proposal for a specialty license plate displaying the Confederate battle flag. The vote was 8-0, with Vice Chair Cheryl Johnson absent. The decision … Continue reading →

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Confederate flag license plate decision coming

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, here it comes. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles is scheduled to debate [this] week whether to create a state license plate with a rebel flag that commemorates Confederate soldiers. The new agenda posted for the Nov. … Continue reading →

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Perry opposes Confederate license plates

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Credit where it’s due. Gov. Rick Perry does not support a Confederate flag specialty license plate under consideration by the state Department of Motor Vehicles board, he said in Florida this morning. In an interview with Bay News 9 following … Continue reading →

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Say “No” to Confederate license plates

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve been in Texas over 25 years now, but sometimes I just can’t escape my Yankee heritage. A group of elected officials said Saturday that Texas cannot allow the Confederate flag – which they consider a symbol of oppression – … Continue reading →

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Balancing the budget on the backs of charities

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Just another “accounting trick” from our Republican legislature. Each year, more than 100 organizations — including the University of Texas, the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Special Olympics and the Girl Scouts — earn a collective $2.5 million from … Continue reading →

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A little more room to express yourself

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

On your vanity license plate. Texas drivers with more to say on their personalized license plates beyond the current six numbers and letters will have more options. My Plates, which sells the state-authorized specialty vehicle plates, announced Monday that some … Continue reading →

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RIP, statewide smoking ban

Posted on May 19, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I thought it still had a chance after it finally passed out of committee in the Senate, but the statewide smoking ban is officially dead. [State Sen. Rodney] Ellis held a press conference to announce the death of the statewide … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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