A federal appeals court has struck down the decision of a lower court that said the state must allow Texans to register to vote while updating their driver’s licenses online. Texas Civil Rights Project, the nonprofit civil rights group that brought the suit to court,...
Voting
back to archiveOh, Texas. You’ve closed 750 polling places.
A groundbreaking new report from the Leadership Conference Education Fund found 750 polling places have closed in Texas since 2013— the most of any state examined in the study. Dallas County, which is 40% Latino and 22% African American, had the most closures. The...
Texas’ new Secretary of State may want to go out of her way on voting rights
On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Ruth Ruggero Hughs as Secretary of State of Texas to serve as the chief elections officer for Texas. Previously, Hughs chaired the Texas Workforce Commission. “Under Ruth’s leadership, we will continue to build the Texas...
Why redistricting is so important in Texas
Editor’s note: The Signal is re-publishing this article by Austin Eldridge of the ACLU of Texas. The image and infogram are also courtesy of the organization. We often hear how important it is to show up at the polls to cast our ballots. What we hear less often is...
A group is trying to stop Texas from trashing thousands of mail-in ballots
The need to protect the sacred right to vote continues in Texas. This time the threat is around mail-in ballots. The state throws out about 3,000 mail-in ballots during presidential elections because an untrained, random panel subjectively decides the ballots...
The courts won’t save Texas from voter suppression in 2020. But voters can.
So much for the major firewall that guarded against voting or election changes hurting African American or Hispanic voters. Voting rights groups in Texas went to court seeking federal approval of any changes to election laws - a provision afforded states that...
Federal court admonishes Texas for voter suppression, despite denying federal supervision
A federal court in San Antonio issued an unwelcome ruling Wednesday that Texas lawmakers would be able to design their own districts without federal supervision. But the court also didn’t let the state’s history of voter dilution and suppression of the hook. The...
Beto O’Rourke unveils policy to increase voter participation and clamp down on vote purges
Beto O’Rourke, unveiled a sweeping voting rights policy Wednesday, making the case voting should be easier for all eligible Americans. “In America, too many states still make it far too hard to vote—often a pernicious and persistent legacy of our nation’s original sin...
The voter suppression bill S.B. 9 is dead, but attempts at suppression continue in legislature
This story has been updated throughout. Where things stand (5/19) For those who want to expand the opportunity for eligible Texans to vote, near victory was in the air Sunday night. A bill, SB 9 —deemed an attempt at voter suppression —died in the Texas House. But on...