Texas: Gov. Perry Calls Special Session To End Controversy Over Voting Districts | CBS Dallas/Fort Worth

Governor Perry wants lawmakers to approve the voting maps drawn by a federal court in Washington, DC that were already used for Congressional and state legislative districts last year. But don’t tell that to Rene Martinez, Director of LULAC’s North East Texas District. Martinez says, “The Latino community has no faith or trust in whatever the Governor’s going to do or the State Legislature as is presently elected.” But Tea Party member Katrina Pierson and Republicans disagree, and say the existing maps would bring consistentcy to the process.

Texas: Special session imminent for state Legislature | Houston Chronicle

Texas’ redistricting battle is about to heat up again. As the Legislature’s regular 90-day session winds to an end, state lawmakers are girding for Gov. Rick Perry to call a special session that could start as early as Tuesday on congressional and legislative election maps. Meanwhile, a federal court is putting its gears back in motion to again take up a lawsuit by minority and voting rights groups challenging Republican-drawn redistricting maps passed by the Legislature in 2011. A hearing scheduled for Wednesday in San Antonio will mark the first time the three-judge panel weighs in on the case in about a year. The flurry of action on the state level on redistricting comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling next month on a case involving Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Texas: House Approves Changes to Ballot Harvesting Bill | The Texas Tribune

The final version of a controversial bill filed to prevent so-called ballot harvesting was approved by the House, but not before a key provision was diluted in the Senate. House Bill 148, by state Rep. Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale, was signed by the House on Friday. It makes it a crime to offer a person compensation based on the number of mail-in ballots he or she collects during an election. Proponents of the bill say the practice leads to voter fraud and possible voter intimidation.

Texas: DOJ ignores Latinos in Texas voting rights case | Watchdog.org

The Department of Justice is blocking a voter-approved plan to convert the board of the Beaumont Independent School District from a system of seven geographic districts to one with five districts and two at-large seats. The $47 million spent on this sports complex raised the first of many questions about the behavior of the Beaumont Independent School District Board. Yet local Latinos say that it’s the Justice Department that’s doing the disenfranchising by insisting on a system that excludes a growing minority group.

Texas: Texas has much at stake in voting rights ruling | Houston Chronicle

Nearly four decades ago, Pearsall watermelon farmer Modesto Rodriguez testified before Congress that discrimination against Latino voters was rampant in Texas. He urged the federal government to continue to oversee the state’s electoral process, saying that law enforcement officers in Frio County walked around polling places “brandishing guns and billy clubs” to find reasons to arrest Latino voters. His activism nearly cost him his life. When he got back home, Rodriguez went into the Buenos Aires bar in Pearsall in an effort to recruit Latinos to talk with Justice Department investigators about voting-rights violations. He was severely beaten by agents from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and Department of Public Safety officers, court records show. “He got beat to a pulp,” said George Korbel, a San Antonio lawyer who was then working with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Chicago on civil rights legislation.

Texas: Beaumont voting rights case sparks heated debate in Washington court | Houston Chronicle

Beaumont lawyers are engaged in a bitter legal batter far from home in Washington, D.C. While filing their briefs for a D.C. case alleging voting rights violations, lawyers for some school board candidates have filed a separate suit over the canceled May Beaumont election, alleging the school board did not have legal authority to cancel the election. Due to the D.C. Circuit Court’s decision last week to hear a case on the Beaumont Independent School District (BISD) elections, judges held up an injunction requested by the Department of Justice.

Texas: House erupts in showdown on voter’s rights | San Antonio Express-News

The Texas House erupted Thursday into a partisan showdown over voting rights when the chamber’s Republicans muscled through a measure they argue will help crack down on mail-in voter fraud. Tensions flared on House floor for more than three hours as Democrats fought Republicans over a measure to criminalize “ballot harvesting” of mail-in votes, a process in which a group or an individual collects and mails completed ballots for other people. House Bill 148 by Rep. Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale, takes aim at the practice by capping the number of ballots an individual can mail in any election to 10. Republicans argued that the mail-in voting system is rampant with fraud in part because of ballot harvesters.

Texas: House erupts in showdown on voter’s rights | San Antonio Express-News

The Texas House erupted Thursday into a partisan showdown over voting rights when the chamber’s Republicans muscled through a measure they argue will help crack down on mail-in voter fraud. Tensions flared on House floor for more than three hours as Democrats fought Republicans over a measure to criminalize “ballot harvesting” of mail-in votes, a process in which a group or an individual collects and mails completed ballots for other people. House Bill 148 by Rep. Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale, takes aim at the practice by capping the number of ballots an individual can mail in any election to 10. Republicans argued that the mail-in voting system is rampant with fraud in part because of ballot harvesters.

Texas: Online voter registration bill pushes for modern method | San Antonio Express-News

It’s a question often posed to Bexar County election officials: Can Texans register to vote online? The answer remains “not yet,” but that would change Sept. 1 under a measure approved by the Texas Senate this week. Sent to the House, the bill authored by Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, aims to modernize the state’s voter registration process the same way Texas has made it easier to complete other official transactions via the Internet.

Texas: Republicans, Democrats clash on redistricting | Abilene Reporter-News

Texas Republicans proposed legislation Thursday that would adopt the current political maps, but Democrats promised to fight the effort. Amarillo Sen. Kel Seliger offered a redistricting bill to the Senate State Affairs Committee that would formally adopt interim maps drawn by a federal court in San Antonio last year. The maps for congressional, state Senate and House districts were used for the 2012 election while a federal court in Washington, D.C., reviewed maps drawn by the Legislature after minority groups filed a lawsuit to block them.

Texas: Online voter registration bills see support from House, Senate committees | Houston Chronicle

Texas could become the seventeenth state to allow online voter registration if two bills advancing out of committees receive final approval. House Bill 313, which received praise from committee members in a Monday hearing, and Senate Bill 315, which was voted out of committee Thursday, propose allowing voters to register online and have that application automatically authenticated rather than having to wait on local election officials to reenter the data in their systems and confirm it.

Texas: Bill to aid voters who move before election receives lukewarm welcome | mySA.com blog

A bill proposing to allow voters who moved to a new county within the month before an election to vote at their old precinct received a lukewarm reception in the House Elections Committee Monday evening. Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, introduced House Bill 3081 to close a loophole that blocks people from voting on election day if they moved to a new county shortly before the election and didn’t have time, or make the effort, to register in their new county.

Texas: Bill That Cuts Early-Voting Period Likely to Be Pulled | Permian Basin 360

A bill that would slash the number of days allowed for early voting is likely to be pulled after scathing testimony Monday from opponents who said the bill was discriminatory and retrogressive. House Bill 2093, by state Rep. Patricia Harless, R-Spring, would limit the early-voting period in Texas to seven days before general and primary elections. Current law mandates 12 days. Harless initially said the measure was necessary to help elections administrators hire workers and volunteers, saying that a 12-day early-voting period as a possible deterrent. But after testimony at Monday’s House Elections Committee hearing, where critics slammed its intent as little more than an effort to make casting a ballot harder for everyone, Harless said she would not ask the committee for a vote.

Texas: Eliminating straight-ticket voting’s effect on area residents | KFDA

The convenience of straight-ticket voting could one day no longer be an option in Texas. Three Texas politicians are seeking to end or limit straight-ticket voting. Texas is one of only 14 states that still allow it. “There’s two bills out there. One that would completely take away the straight-party voting, the other would take away the straight-party voting in local offices,” Knoxie Mathes, Potter County Election Administrator says. We asked how this would effect voters in our area. The number of panhandle residents who utilize straight-ticket voting is high. More than half of voters in Randall County used this option during November’s election. Even more people voted this way in Potter County. “In the 2012 general election we had maybe about 15 to 16 thousand that vote straight party out of 26 thousand that actually voted,” Mathes says.

Texas: Greg Abbott Wants To Make Texas’ Interim (And Still Probably Unconstitutional) Redistricting Plan Permanent | Dallas Observer

As you may recall, Texas’ 2011 plan to redraw political boundaries was so brazenly partisan, so undeniably bent on reducing minority influence, and the evidence was so mountainous and convincing that a federal court didn’t even bother cataloging it all in its ruling against the state. “The parties have provided more evidence of discriminatory intent than we have space, or need, to address here.” You could practically hear emanating from between the lines a judge chortling, “Can you believe the cojones on these guys?” Texas is, of course, one of a handful of southern states with a history of racial bias that must get pre-clearance from the Feds before enacting redistricting plans.

Texas: Caucus versus primary: Party leaders consider costs, role of voters in candidate selection | Daily News Journal

The 2014 race for county mayor, sheriff and four other offices will start out with either party primaries offered to all voters or caucuses where a limited number will decide the nominees. To help the county save money during tough economic times in 2010, the Republican and Democratic parties agreed to hold caucuses for mayor, sheriff, trustee, county clerk, register of deeds and Circuit Court clerk. The cost for a countywide primary that would be May 6, 2014, will come to an estimated $110,000 to cover poll workers and voter machine expenses, said Nicole Lester, the administrator who oversees the full-time staff for the Rutherford County Election Commission.

Texas: Driver surcharge program may have doomed voter ID law | Dallas Morning News

Was the Texas voter ID law undone by the troubled Texas Driver Responsibility Program? Although no study has ever been done on the link between the two, experts have speculated that the driving surcharge program — which has caused 1.3 million drivers to lose their licenses — made it much more difficult for Texas to defend its 2011 law requiring voters to show a photo ID at the polls. In August, a federal appeals court refused to uphold the voter ID law in part because so many Texans lacked a driver’s license or state photo ID. Minorities made up a large percentage of them.

Texas: Redistricting appeal likely on hold at Supreme Court | San Antonio Express-News

A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on whether to hear Texas’ appeal in a redistricting case is likely to be delayed until the justices rule on a different voting rights case, lawyers involved in the Texas battle said Friday. Supreme Court justices have held a series of screening conferences to select the cases to be argued during the spring term. So far, justices haven’t selected the Texas appeal of a federal court ruling that the state discriminated against minorities with new redistricting maps for Congress and the Legislature. Texas, in its appeal, also has challenged the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act that requires prior approval by the Justice Department of any changes to voting laws and procedures for jurisdictions with a history of discrimination.

Texas: Rep. Johnson files bills to protect voting rights in Texas | North Dallas Gazette

Rep. Eric Johnson (D-Dallas) last week filed legislation to increase access to the ballot box and facilitate greater voter participation.
“The ability to cast a ballot is a fundamental right that has come under attack in the last few years,” said Representative Johnson. “I have filed legislation that seeks to reverse this trend in order to protect the rights of all voters, while at the same time making the process more welcoming in hopes of increasing participation,” he continued. These voting rights measures are the first five bills filed by Rep. Johnson in the 83rd session of the Texas Legislature.

Texas: New Bill Would Repeal Texas Voter ID Law | The Texas Tribune

State Rep. Eric Johnson, D-Dallas, started the 83rd legislative session with one issue in mind: voter identification laws. Johnson filed five bills Thursday, his first legislation of the new session, aiming to both increase voter participation and strike down a bill requiring voters to show photo IDs at the polls. Senate Bill 14, the voter ID law, passed in 2011, requires voters to present a government-issued photo ID to cast their ballot, but the law has yet to be implemented. It was rejected by both the U.S. Department of Justice and a federal three-judge panel in 2012. The rulings said that Texas did not prove that the measure did not discriminate against minorities.

Texas: Days before hearing over Dallas’ newly drawn city council map, plaintiffs drop their federal redistricting suit | Dallas Morning News

On Friday, the federal lawsuit over the Dallas’ city council district map died a quiet death. According to a single-page filing, plaintiffs Renato de los Santos and Hilda Ramirez Duarte — who claimed in a July lawsuit that the recently redrawn council map discriminates against the city’s Latinos by diluting their voting strength — said they “no longer wish to pursue their claims” against the city. Their attorneys, and those representing the city of Dallas, have signed off on the Stipulation of Dismissal with Prejudice, which means the case can’t be refiled. And so, just like that, what had been expected to be a contentious, drawn-out and expensive battle over the city’s district boundaries is no more.

Texas: Court battles on Texas election issues go on and on | Star Telegram

Believe it or not, it’s not too early to start worrying about whether the 2014 party primary elections might be delayed because of the ongoing court fights over redistricting and other issues. That’s right, the same legal battles that delayed this year’s primaries from early March to late May. That’s not a prediction — just saying it could happen. It’s probably more productive for now to get up to date on where the ongoing court battles stand. A lot has happened since spring. The primaries were held, runoffs came in July and there was a pretty big national election in November.

Texas: Speedy appeal on voter ID law | SCOTUSblog

The time may be short for the Supreme Court to act on the state of Texas’s power to impose a new voter photo ID law, but the state nevertheless plans to pursue a prompt appeal in hopes of a quick final decision, perhaps during the Justices’ current Term.  The state got permission on Monday to pursue an immediate appeal from a three-judge U.S. District Court in Washington.  That court had ruled against the voter ID law in August. Texas officials already have taken steps to try to get the Justices to rule during the current Term on new redistricting plans for the Texas delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives and for the two houses of its state legislature.  The Justices will consider that appeal at their January 4 Conference, after the state gave up some of its filing rights in order to advance the case.  That would be in time, if the Court accepts review, for a decision before the Justices’ summer recess in late June.  (That case is Texas v. United States, docket 12-496).   If the Court were to move ahead this Term on one or both of the new Texas cases, that would mean a further exploration of the scope — and even the constitutionality — of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Texas: Voter ID Suit Put on Hold Till Supreme Court Rules | Bloomberg

A federal court deferred further proceedings in a lawsuit filed by Texas over the state’s voter identification law until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on whether part of the Voting Rights Act is constitutional. A three-judge panel in Washington said today that “in the interest of efficiency and judicial economy” it will wait for the Supreme Court to review a provision of the 1965 law requiring all or part of 16 mostly Southern states to get federal approval before changing their voting rules. The Texas suit challenges the same provision.

Texas: Voter ID Suit May Await Related High Court Ruling | Businessweek

The U.S. Justice Department agreed to defer further proceedings in a lawsuit filed by Texas over the state’s voter identification law until the Supreme Court rules whether part of the Voting Rights Act is constitutional. Attorney General Eric Holder, in a filing today in federal court in Washington, said the department could wait for the Supreme Court to review a provision of the 1965 law that requires all or part of 16 mostly Southern states to get federal approval before changing their voting rules.

Texas: Andrade resigns as Texas secretary of state | Houston Chronicle

Hope Andrade, the first Latina to serve as Texas secretary of state, abruptly announced her resignation Tuesday in the wake of controversy over a so-called voter purge. “It has been the highest honor of my professional life to serve as the secretary of state for the greatest state in our nation,” she said in a statement announcing her departure. In a letter to Gov. Rick Perry, who in 2008 named her to the post in which she served as Texas’ chief elections officer, the San Antonio resident said her resignation would be effective Friday. There was no immediate word on her replacement.

Texas: Canseco Concedes Texas CD-23 to Gallego | KUT News

U.S. Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco conceded the Congressional District 23 race on Friday. He congratulated state Rep. Pete Gallego, while renewing allegations that voter fraud skewed the results. “While there is no doubt there were improperly counted votes and improperly cast ballots, a full investigation and recount would be prohibitively expensive and time consuming,” Canseco said in a statement.

Texas: No problems seen with European election observers | San Antonio Express-News

Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade said Friday that European election observers have caused no problems with the state’s voting process, but she declined to criticize state Attorney General Greg Abbott for threatening them with arrest. Abbott sent a letter Thursday to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, complaining about the presence in Texas of members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Abbott’s letter was the latest round in a public spat that began Tuesday when he warned the group’s representatives to stay at least 100 feet from all polling places and said they would be subject to “criminal prosecution” if they failed to comply with that requirement.

Texas: Obama Backs UN-linked Election Monitors, but Texas Stands Firm | New American

As the national scandal over United Nations-linked “elections monitors” in the United States continues to grow after Texas threatened potential prosecutions, the international outfit deploying “observers” demanded that the Obama administration come to its aid. The U.S. State Department promptly claimed that the UN-affiliated monitors would have “full” diplomatic immunity. But in the Lone Star State, officials fired back and upped the ante: Don’t mess with Texas. On October 23, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sent a strongly worded letter to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) warning that its representatives could be prosecuted if they violate state law or are found within 100 feet of a polling place. Among the most serious concerns was the fact that the UN partner organization was working with discredited far-left radical groups to supposedly seek out conservative “voter suppression” schemes — mostly state laws aimed at preventing election fraud.

Texas: The Texan behind the charge for voter ID laws | Houston Chronicle

Anyone listening to Catherine Engelbrecht for any length of time is likely to be convinced that voter fraud is one of the most insidious evils the nation faces. The articulate and passionate founder of True the Vote, a Houston-based tea party organization dedicated to strengthening laws against voter fraud, has convinced several state legislatures of the need for voters to show photo identification at the polling place. But after three years of national attention – and much success – opponents are pushing back. Courts have struck down, limited or delayed recently enacted voter ID laws, including in Texas. Election officials in several states, including the swing states of Ohio and North Carolina, have rejected many of the challenges that True the Vote volunteers have provided, usually on grounds of paltry evidence.