Voter Smackdown

A battle for voters has been waged in Texas with the Texas Secretary of State calling for a state-wide clean up and verification of the voter rolls. The smackdown began following the release of 95,000+/- names that had been identified via Texas Department of Public Safety data as folks who were possibly not citizens but who were registered to vote.

"Why are you trying to disenfranchise voters?" wailed the politicos. How DARE you question the integrity of the voter rolls in the State of Texas, they demanded to know. The Texas Tribune launched a campaign with statistics on how voter fraud is a big farce and how the entire exercise is a waste of time. USA Today even weighed in implying that voter fraud never happens and the effort to verify voter data was laughable. And why y'all lyin'? 

Well dear readers the truth is, the nation's voter rolls are in a sad state. If dead people are voting and 19 "voters" share the same post office box, it seems obvious to even the most casual observer that there is indeed a problem. You can find a list of recent convictions for voter fraud in Texas here. It's not a short list. 

So why you may ask, don't the State's county voter registrars want to clean up and verify voter records? Wouldn't it be in the very best interest of everyone if only folks who qualify to vote actually vote? 

Apparently not if you ask Harris County. A group whose aim is to take a good hard look at who is voting in Harris County had to sue the Harris County Registrar for failing to respond to an open records request for voter rolls. Amazingly, the Registrar's office wanted so badly to keep the records a secret that they filed a request to have the lawsuit dismissed, which was ultimately struck down.

According to their press release,  the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) "commended an order denying the Harris County Registrar’s request to dismiss a lawsuit seeking access to public records showing the extent of noncitizen voter registration in the county. (PILF v. Harris Bennett 4:18-cv-00981)."

Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 makes it clear that individuals may inspect records "concerning the implementation of programs and activities conducted for the purpose of ensuring accuracy and currency of official lists of eligible voters". 

Government entities refusing to turn over records begs the very important question of what are they trying to hide?  The County doth protest too much, me thinks. In my mind, there can only be one reason they won't turn over the records for examination: there are people on the voter rolls who are not eligible to vote. It's as simple as that. 

What would be the harm in verifying voter rolls on a regular basis? I can't think of one reason. #tb