Aug 29, 2024 Story by: Editor
AUSTIN, Texas — On Tuesday, the Texas Legislative Black Caucus expressed strong disapproval of Governor Greg Abbott’s announcement regarding the removal of over one million people from Texas voter rolls. They voiced concerns that minority voters would be disproportionately affected by such sweeping actions.
Governor Abbott attributed the removals to legislation he enacted in 2021, which targets individuals who have moved out of state, passed away, or are non-citizens. However, Caucus Chairman Representative Ron Reynolds argued that most of these removals are simply part of the routine maintenance of voter rolls mandated by law.
Reynolds contended that this announcement undermines public trust in the integrity of elections. He and his Caucus worry about eligible voters being mistakenly removed, particularly since history indicates that voters of color are often the most impacted. “Voting is our most fundamental precious right that we have as American citizens,” Reynolds stated.
Reynolds shared that one of his constituents, a long-time voter, contacted him about being inexplicably removed from the voter rolls. “This is an African American female; she called me and said, ‘Hey, she was alarmed,'” Reynolds recounted. “How many more people out there that were purged that are actually eligible voters?”
On Monday, Governor Abbott announced that over one million voters have been removed from the rolls since he signed voter reform legislation in 2021. According to the governor’s office, 457,000 of these individuals were deceased, 134,000 had moved out of state, and over 6,500 were non-citizens. Additionally, 65,000 individuals did not respond to mail notifications, which the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas noted could be due to various legitimate reasons.
“He’s framing these numbers,” said ACLU of Texas attorney Ashley Harris. “Taking them out of context in order to make it look like something suspicious is happening.”
Dr. Josh Blank from the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin emphasized that this type of cleanup is normal and legally required. “The word purge carries a lot of connotations with it,” Dr. Blank noted. “The reality is that in a state as large as Texas, the voter rolls require regular maintenance to remove inactive voters.”
He added that the timing of the announcement, just ten weeks before Election Day, is politically motivated. “Ultimately, this is a message that is being made to Republican voters, that the state is active in trying to ferret out any sense of voter fraud, even though there’s no evidence of voter fraud,” Dr. Blank explained.
Harris pointed out that historical precedents show these purges often disenfranchise voters. In 2019, Texas incorrectly flagged over 95,000 registered voters, a significant number of whom were citizens of color. “Minority voters and voters of color are the most vulnerable to these publicized accusations of inaccuracies,” Harris said.
Both the ACLU of Texas and Representative Reynolds urge all voters, whether first-time or experienced, to verify their registration status online. “We can’t assume that you’re registered. Please, Ma’am, please sir, check your voter registration,” Reynolds stressed. “So that there are no issues for you voting when you show up at the polls.”
The deadline to register to vote for this year’s election is October 7th. The Texas Politics Project advises anyone who finds themselves unregistered to visit their local county clerk’s office for assistance. Source: CBS Austin
