John: The problems this reporter had are exactly what we've been talking about for years in Texas.
She became a naturalized U.S. citizen at a ceremony last year. After she took the oath of allegiance with around 50 new Americans, volunteer deputy voter registrars from several local Central Texas counties provided them with voter registration applications. Here's what happened next, in her own words:
"The volunteer who took my application told me I would receive a voter registration card in the mail. It never arrived. A few months later, I checked my voter registration status on the Texas Secretary of State’s website and nothing showed up. When I called the county’s voter registrar, they confirmed I wasn’t in the system."
Then she tried again. And again, no registration. The clerk at the county registrar's office was not sure what went wrong. Her third time registering to vote finally went through.
The sad truth is that most Americans don't have the time or the resources to chase registration officials like this, and cynical politicians in Texas and beyond take advantage of that to suppress the voting population by making potential voters jump through endless hoops.
We've had enough of opponents of voting rights going to any length to protect their own power, John. Chip in $25 or whatever you can today to register voters, defend voting rights, and so much more across the country >>
