Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Texas’ Voter ID Law is in Trouble

You know, this was a non-starter for me. Texas’s conservative legislators have been chomping at the bit to pass a Voter ID law on the false notion that voter fraud was rampant in the Lone Star State when in actual point of fact there have been “fewer than five” voter impersonation cases in Texas in the past three years.

The disingenuousness of the recently passed law is obvious. It is obvious that its sole purpose was to disenfranchise the elderly and minorities. In other  words, Democratic Voters.
600,000 of them.
That was the Department of Justice finding made public today.
But wait, it gets better. The Feds  smell a huge rat and want to prove its allegation that it was the specific intent of state lawmakers to rob Texans of their right to vote. They want to check out what went on internally as this vile piece of legislation was being concocted and passed.
From The Chron:
In court papers filed Wednesday, the department was explaining why Texas lawmakers should turn over their papers and communication regarding the law. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has argued that lawmakers should not have to reveal their internal deliberations.
Isn’t that just the coolest thing? The Feds want to read what the legislators were emailing to each other, looking for the smoking gun that shows intent to rob Texas voters of their civil and constitutional rights. And it looks like they are going to play hardball with AG Greg Abbott, and his assertion that they enjoy special privileges when it comes to internal communications.
They get to discuss and decide things in secret.
Nope. The Feds are saying that no such privilege exists. And this is exactly right. The email of public servants doing state business is not privileged information. It is public record.
Trust me. As a public school educator, I am well aware of this.

1 comment:

Julia B. said...

Wouldn't it be sweet to see Abbott's ambitions crushed by voter outrage over his spending a million dollars litigating this scheme.