Republican Chicanery At Texas Voting Booths

Election law expert Rick Hasen

Today's 'Fresh Air' segment with NPR's Terry Gross interviewing author, law professor and Election Law Blog creator Rick Hasen was an interesting snapshot of what may or may not be in store for the November 8th elections in just under two weeks.

And an interesting dissection of some of the outlandish claims of rampant voter fraud that have been levied by Donald Trump in recent weeks.


Despite the delusional Orange-Haired One's apocalyptic warnings of an imaginary nationwide Democratic plot to rig the upcoming presidential elections, as Hasen observed in one of his entries on his Election Law Blog today, early signs based on eyewitness accounts and complaints from Texas are that it's actually Republicans engaged in widespread voter fraud of a more sinister nature.

Haden posted a link to the October 25th press release by the Texas Civil Rights Project highlighting samples of some really troubling reports from early voting in three counties in the Lone Star State: Harris, Bexar and Denton.

The TCR Project notes that during the course of the two-day period covering Monday October 24th and Tuesday October 25th, the Election Protection hotline logged approximately 200 calls and emails identifying complaints that include poll workers in the Bayland Park Community Center and the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Harris County incorrectly telling early voters that they were required to show photo ID.

They also posted a link to a photo taken on Monday by a voter who went to the Castle Hills City Hall in San Antonio to cast an early vote showing a sign posted on the wall of the election sight that wrongly states, "Photo ID required for Texas Voters"

Notice that the sign says a concealed weapons carry permit is acceptable ID to vote but not a college ID? Outrageous.

This sign is not true and has no business being posted in a voting site in Texas let alone a city hall.

Back in July a panel of federal judges from the 5th Circuit Court struck down the Texas voter ID requirement prior to the start of early voting - so Texans do not have to present photo ID in order to be able to vote.

As Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee For Civil Rights Under Law observed, "Across Texas we are seeing local elections officials undermine the weight of the 5th Circuits' ruling striking down the state's voter ID law as discriminatory."

The Texas Civil Rights Project also detailed reports from Denton County of at least one individual being turned away from a poll center in Flower Mound, TX for not having a photo ID and an armed man walking along talking to voters waiting in line in Carrollton, TX.

Is this 2016 or 1916?

Fortunately the Election Protection initiative has partnered with more than 100 other groups including the Brennan Center For Justice, the NAACP, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters to provide up-to-date voter rights information, grass roots support and legal experts to confront this kind of chicanery and misinformation engineered by desperate Republicans who know their policies and candidate are a lost cause amongst mainstream American voters.

Trump can continue to childishly pound the podium and prattle on about his righteous indignation over imaginary fears about non-existant plots by Democrats to "rig" the upcoming elections.

But as reports from the front lines in Texas show, in truth it's actually Republicans on the local county and state level who are using intentional misinformation, intimidation and ignoring federal court rulings in order to try and rig the outcome of the 2016 election process.

Despite the presence of many fair-minded Americans from both ends of the political spectrum and from all races and ethnicities in the Lone Star State, there's still something dark at work deep in the heart of Texas.

Especially when some elections officials are knowingly ignoring federal rulings on voter restrictions that violate the law of the land.