The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 14, 2022

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

NBC News – Texas Republicans propose a Florida-style election police force as it tees up more changes to voting laws

Texas Tribune – Texas lawmakers target property taxes, election fraud and transgender people in new legislation ahead of 2023 session
The Texan – Illegal Voting Felonies, ‘Save Women’s Sports Act,’ and School Choice Among Bills Filed on First Day of Pre-Filing
Texas Tribution – 2021’s SB1  The hard-fought Texas voting bill is poised to become law. Here’s what it does.

Groups Taking Action:

Texas Voter Protection, Texas Civil Rights Project, Mi Familia Vota

Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time) 

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

It’s not yet January and the 2023 election and voting bills are already piling up in Texas like tumbleweeds.  Many of these bills are designed to prevent voter fraud, which already is as rare in Texas as the Jackalope.

NBC News and the Texas Tribune report that over 62 bills have been prefiled in the legislature, many designed to increase oversight of elections and step up penalties for voting illegally.   The Houston Chronicle estimates that Texas election officials spent 22,000 hours looking for voter fraud after the 2020 election, resulting in only 16 voters with fraudulent addresses on registration forms.   

HB 39 is one of five Republican-sponsored bills which increases voting related crimes from a misdemeanor to a felony.   SB 220 is one of two bills which creates  “election marshals,” similar to Florida’s new state police division investigating election fraud.   Florida’s force made its first arrests in August, only to have most of the charges dismissed due to the state’s own mistakes.

While states like Nevada & Alaska recently took steps to use a single ballot open primary system, HB 239 would close Texas primaries, requiring separate ballots for each party.   Open ballot primaries offer voters more choice, give third party candidates a chance, and tend to support centrist candidates, rather than extremists.

With a Republican House, Senate & Governor, these restrictions could pass later next year.

See articles outlining other proposed Texas voting bills at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post 2023 Texas Bills Propose More Restrictions, Penalties, Oversight, and an Election Police Force appeared first on American Democracy Minute.