The Paxton War On Voting Continues

Ken Paxton has been on a particularly litigious spree lately. Especially when it comes to voting. That’s likely no surprise given the proximity of the November election and that early voting in Texas starts in three weeks on Monday, October 21.

Paxton’s legal maneuvering has taken many forms. Recently he announced that his election integrity unit conducted searches on several members and volunteers with the Latino civil rights organization LULAC. One of those raids was against a great-grandmother who was forced to wait outside in a nightgown.

Then there are the lawsuits he filed against Bexar and Travis County over sending out voter registration ballots. Paxton wrote to county officials in Bexar County claiming that their actions were “troubling this election cycle” because of the “Biden-Harris open border policies.” Voter fraud is extremely rare across the nation and in Texas. Paxton cited no evidence to support that non-citizens were being registered to vote.

Earlier this month a state district court judge rebuffed Paxton’s efforts to stop Bexar County mail voter registration’s efforts. On September 29, Travis County Judge Andy Brown spoke to WFAA-TV arguing that Paxton’s efforts in Travis County were in violation of the National Voter Registration Act. Brown told WFAA-TV they are seeking to have the case moved to a federal court.

The fact remains that Paxton is putting a lot of time and effort in the Attorney General’s office to curtail voting registration efforts. The Texas Signal spoke with Rebekah Caruthers, the Vice President of the Fair Election Center to discuss those actions. According to Caruthers the Fair Election Center is “a nonpartisan organization that believes that those who are eligible to vote and who want to vote should be allowed to vote in this country.”

For Caruthers and the team at the Fair Election Center Paxton falls into a trend of state officials that are going against some of the biggest hallmarks of America. “We are seeing certain elected officials who are anti-democratic and that’s quite unfortunate because we should want as many people as possible to participate as full citizens in our country,” said Caruthers. “One way to do so is to exercise the right to vote.” 

Despite the efforts of officials like Paxton, Caruthers noted that she and her colleagues at Fair Election Center have been seeing a trend of increased voter registration, particularly in those under thirty. Caruthers offers a series of possibilities for that, ranging from one of the parties changing nominees to a return to college campuses to even the endorsement and posts encouraging their fans to vote from popular singers Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish.

Texas, however, is just one of eight states that does not have online voter registration. That’s a challenge for organizations that are working to get as many people as possible, particularly newer Gen-Z voters, registered. Caruthers points out that Gen-Z has grown up in a largely digital world, so it tracks for them to believe they could register to vote solely online. “It makes sense if you support democracy in this county to look for ways to make it easier for people to assert their rights, including their right to vote,” said Caruthers.

Fair Elections Center has tracked and supported efforts from other states who have taken concrete steps to make the voting process easier. Those would include increased ballot hours, more locations for early voting, or opening up vote-by-mail.

As for Paxton’s attempts to stop counties in Texas from sending out voter registration applications, Caruthers finds that “nonsensical.” She believes the county officials are in their lawful right. “It’s disingenuous for him to say that sending out a voter registration form somehow equals or inspires those who aren’t able to register to vote to register to vote,” she told Texas Signal. 

Last week Paxton was dealt another setback in his quest against expanded voter rights when a U.S. District Judge blocked provisions from SB1, a sweeping bill many experts would call a voter suppression omnibus. The Judge determined that some of the language in the bill against alleged vote harvesting was too broad. These were the same provisions Paxton’s office used to target the LULAC members and volunteers.

MALDEF (the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) was one of the plaintiffs in the SB1 lawsuit against Paxton. Their Vice President of Litigation Nina Perales issued a statement after the federal judge’s ruling. “Today’s decision lifts the threat of felony prosecution from grassroots organizations that are engaged in constitutional, legitimate get-out-the-vote activities that are vital to democracy,” said Perales. “Organizations can once again talk to voters at community meetings and through neighborhood canvassing without worrying that their staff will be prosecuted.”