Janice R. Andrews
In a strange turn of events, many voters in Texas are finding that they were accidentally taken off the state’s voter list, just weeks before the November election. Governor Greg Abbott was happy to say that 1.1 million names had been removed from the state’s voting list. He said that this move was meant to get rid of people who are not citizens, have been convicted of a crime, have died, or should not be able to vote. The broad nature of this action, on the other hand, has left many legal voters, like an Austin man with a government security clearance, confused and angry because they can’t vote anymore.
Voters in the Middle of It All
The Austin resident, who asked to remain unnamed because of his job, heard this scary news while registering his 18-year-old son for his first election at the Travis County building not long ago. When his wife Ann checked their voter registration while they were there, she was shocked to see that her husband’s registration had been canceled. “The county worker told me, ‘You’re still on it, but your husband isn’t,'” Ann said. She also said that her husband had last voted in 2021 in a local poll about limiting the number of public places where homeless people could camp.
When asked why, the county worker allegedly said that voters who haven’t used their right to vote in a few years are often taken away to “make room for other voters.” Ann thought this reason was strange. “Once someone is registered to vote, you shouldn’t just take them off because they aren’t voting enough,” she said, stressing that some people may only vote in presidential elections but should still keep their right to vote.
Concerns about voters not being able to vote
Ann’s husband was able to get his voting rights back the same day, but she is still worried about what this voter purge means for society as a whole. “What if we hadn’t made sure we were registered?” Ann was afraid that he might have missed his chance to vote. She didn’t like Governor Abbott’s promise to have the “strongest election laws in the nation,” saying it might make people less likely to vote. She said, “He’s playing a political game.” “He wants to go further, and he’s feeding the populations of people he thinks he needs.”
When asked for a statement on these issues, Governor Abbott’s office has not yet replied. On the other hand, he made it clear again in a news release earlier this week that he would not stand for illegal votes in Texas. Texans have a sacred right to vote, and we will continue to fight hard to protect our elections from people who vote illegally.
Legal Problems and Concerns About Federal Law
The controversial voter purge started in 2021 and is still going on. Many groups are criticizing it and suing over it. Someone from the Campaign Legal Center named Kate Huddleston brought up an important legal point: “Federal law forbids systematically removing voters from the rolls within 90 days of an election.” In a message to Texas officials, Huddleston’s group told the state that it had to stop systematically removing voters right away. “We’re worried that some eligible Texas voters are probably being wrongly called in for a citizenship check and taken off the rolls,” Huddleston said. “Texas has wrongly used naturalized citizens as targets for removal in the past.”
Concerns aside, the Texas Secretary of State has not responded to the problems brought up by the Campaign Legal Center in public. At the same time, the Governor’s office said that 6,500 of the names that were taken away were not citizens, and that 1,930 of them had actually cast a vote. The Attorney General’s Office has been told about these cases so that they can decide whether to take formal action.
What the Purge Covers
The huge voting purge also got rid of the names of more than 457,000 people who had died, over 134,000 people who no longer lived in Texas, and more than 6,000 people who had been convicted of a crime. Also, 463,000 voters who were on the “suspense list” were taken off it. People whose residency is in question, usually because of undeliverable mail like voter registration cards or jury summonses, are usually on the “suspense list.” A notice of inquiry was sent to over 65,000 voters, but they did not reply. Another 19,000 people asked to have their voter registration canceled.
Texas voters are being asked to do something.
Ann wants everyone in Texas to check their voter registration as soon as possible because these changes affect a lot of people. “Everyone should check their registration,” she said, emphasizing how important it was to make sure everyone was eligible before the election. Monday, October 7 is the last day to sign up to vote in Texas. The state of Texas does not allow online registration, so people must do it in person or by mail.
Because of the ongoing debate surrounding the voter purge, Texans are being urged to stay alert and take action to protect their right to vote. With the election coming up quickly in November, it’s still unclear how many more qualified voters may be caught up in this thorough review of the state’s voter rolls.
