Dear Citizen Advocates,

With early voting just 2 weeks away, the Secretary of State's office (SOS) has issued a new directive about using temporary driver's licenses or temporary state issued IDs as an acceptable ID for voting. We need everyone to take action on this issue to let the SOS office and the TX Legislature know that this is not acceptable.

Background:  

The Texas Department of Public Safety issues a Limited Term Licenses (LTL) for Non-Citizens who are here lawfully and need to drive. This license must be renewed every year and is invalid when the Non-citizen is either naturalized or their status has expired. 

On Oct 8, the SOS Elections office issued a new 4 page directive that instructed poll workers to accept LTLs as valid ID for voting, and issue a regular ballot (not provisional).  The premise seems to be that a person holding a temporary license or ID card might have become a naturalized citizen and just not had time to update the license or ID.  However, if that's the case, the person would have naturalization papers to prove they are a citizen, and the naturalization card is an acceptable form of ID for voting according to election code. For more details and a complete copy of the advisory, please see this  Texas Scorecard article by Erin Anderson.

RPT Chair, Abraham George, has issued a statement about the party's position on this issue, reminding election workers of their obligation under the law to ensure that only legal citizens vote.

The new directive from the SOS is concerning on several levels.  First, of course, it opens the possibility of non-citizens registering and then voting.  But it also puts election judges in a very difficult situation.  Do they follow the law or follow the SOS directive?   (An election officer commits a class A misdemeanor by knowingly permitting an ineligible voter to vote (except for a provisional ballot in accordance with Tex. Elec. Code §63.001). See Tex. Elec. Code §63.012.) 

In another new development, on Oct 9, SOS Nelson sent a letter to AG Paxton asking for his legal opinion on how to handle the situation.  We don't know if she is just passing the buck, or covering her office's actions, but it needs to be addressed - SOON!  Early voting starts on Oct 21.  I'm not an election worker, but if I were, I would be very concerned about this situation.

Action

This is a time sensitive and rapidly changing situation.  Action is needed immediately.  Please take some or all of the suggested actions and do it within the next 48 hours.

Action #1 - Call the Secretary of State office - Select Option 3 and let them know that Limited Term Licenses should be unacceptable as a Voter ID and that election workers should be instructed to reject LTL as an ID for voting, and only issue provisional ballots to those individuals.  The phone # is 800-252-8683

Action #2 - As it happens, the Senate State Affairs Committee is holding an interim hearing on Wednesday Oct 16, to study the issue of non-citizens voting.  Please attend the hearing if possible and testify.  (I will be there, and have already prepared my testimony).  The details of the hearing are listed below in the "Meanwhile at the Capitol" section of this message.

Action #3 - If you are not able to attend the hearing, please contact the members of the committee to express your opinion and urge the committee to address this issue immediately.

[email protected]

Meanwhile At the Capitol – 

Reminder - on October 15, 16, and 17, the Senate State Affairs Committee is holding interim hearings all 3 days to review several important topics.  Here’s a summary:

Tuesday October 15, 9:00 am

·         Impeachment Reform

·         Lottery

·         Addressing Homelessness

Meeting Details:  https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/schedules/pdf/C5702024101509001.PDF

Wednesday October 16, 9:00 am

·         Runoff Elections

·         Stop Non-citizen Voting

·         Election Audit Reports

·         Unmasking protesters

·         Monitor implementation of SB2284 (relating to the sale of distilled spirits to ultimate consumers)

Meeting Details:  https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/schedules/pdf/C5702024101609001.PDF

Thursday October 17, 9:00 am

·         Social Media & Protecting Children (specifically HB 18)

·         Responsible Investing

·         Beverages with THC

·         Public Trust in Government

Meeting Details: https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/schedules/pdf/C5702024101709001.PDF

I’ll be there Tuesday and Wednesday, and until noon on Thursday.  If you can join me, let me know.  We’ll meet up in the rotunda and do it together.  You can pick your topic and testify (or not), but we particularly need people to show up and speak about the non-citizens voting issue on Wednesday. 

There is no on-line comment opportunity for Senate hearings, but you could email or call the committee members if you can’t go.  Interim hearings are a great time for folks who have not testified before.  They are somewhat less formal, and less pressure, because there’s no bill to approve or deny.  It’s all about information gathering, and they need to hear from citizens.

Please take action on one or more of the items outlined here.  This is why we build the TTP army.  Time to mobilize it.

Thanks for always staying engaged!  I hope to see you at the Capitol next week.

Fran Rhodes, President