Texas Republicans just don’t want you to vote

The GOP-dominated Texas Legislature is considering a bill to ban cities and counties from mailing voter registration forms to residents.

Senate Bill 511, authored by State Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), would prohibit cities and counties in Texas from mailing out unsolicited voter registration forms to residents. State Rep. Tom Oliverson (R-Houston) has also authored a nearly identical bill in the Texas House.

Texas Republicans claim this legislation will reduce widespread voter fraud, however previous reporting on this topic has revealed that voter fraud in the Lone Star State is extremely rare. When localities like cities and counties mail blank registration forms to residents, residents still have to fill out the forms correctly and return them to their county’s elections office. This is where their information will be verified by election officials and added to the voter rolls if eligible. These mailers help make the registration process a bit easier in a state where it is incredibly difficult and time consuming to register to vote.

Unlike in other states, Texans cannot register to vote online. Online voter registration has been the norm in many blue and red states going back to the early 2000s. Yet Texas is still doing things the old fashioned way and Senate Bill 511 threatens to make this already difficult process even harder. The Star previously reported on the Texas Senate’s latest push to make Texas residents provide a copy of their passport or original birth certificate, in addition to an eligible photo ID when registering to vote. If all of these new restrictions are signed into law, it is going to severely impact the state’s most vulnerable populations and voter registration efforts by civic and political organizations.

Senate Bill 511 is just the latest effort in the Texas Republican Party’s wider campaign to completely rewrite our state and country’s election laws. It’s hard to see their actions and reach any conclusion other than the fact that Texas Republicans don’t want you to vote.

This piece was authored as an editorial by The Star’s publisher and staff and represents the views of the publication.