Fellow Democrats,
Successful Senate District Conventions
Thanks to everyone who attended your Senatorial District Conventions last week. Your participation ensures that the democratic process works. Delegates have been selected for the Texas Democratic Party State Convention, scheduled for June 16-18 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. (More information: http://act.txdemocrats.org/page/event/detail/democraticconvention/wrgc) If you are attending, you are encouraged to make your hotel reservations now because hotels will fill up fast. In fact, the first three hotels I called were already booked!
Improving the Election Process
This week, three Dallas County Democratic Party staff members and I met with representatives of the Dallas County Elections Department, including Elections Administrator Toni Pippins-Poole. We discussed the recent Democratic Primary Election and how we could build on an already effective election system in Dallas County. We also shared suggestions that we had received from voters, precinct chairs, election judges and clerks.
Some of the good suggestions require a vote by the Texas legislature, such as voting machine receipts, expanded use of vote-by-mail ballots, and online voting. However, Election Day voting centers already have legislative approval.
Election Day voting centers allow voters to cast a ballot anywhere in the county on Election Day, just like we already do for Early Voting. At the request of Dallas County Commissioners, the Dallas County Elections Department is currently conducting an analysis to determine the feasibility of Election Day voting centerss
One of the outcomes of our election debriefing is that the DCDP staff is starting now to build a large reserve of election judges and clerks. Working this far in advance, we can increase the number of poll workers, and we can provide additional opportunities for training for new election workers.
Infringement of Voting Rights
Apparently, some voters who registered to vote through the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) experienced problems on Election Day. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 requires the DPS to allow people to register to
v
ote when they apply for, or renew, a driver's license. However, there are complaints that voter registration is not always offered, or that information on newly registered voters is not timely communicated to the Elections Department. For this reason, the Texas Civil Rights Project, through its new director Mimi Marziani, filed suit against the DPS on March 14, 2016.
The complaint alleges that the failure of the DPS to perform, or timely perform, its voter registration responsibilities, constitutes a violation of federal law. The complaint also alleges that the DPS Director and Secretary of State, in their official capacities, have committed, and continue to commit, "systemic and ongoing violations of provisions of the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993."
Meanwhile, the Texas Voter ID lawsuit is still pending. Even though the Fifth Circuit remanded the case to the State District Court, after holding that the Texas Voter ID requirement is discriminatory, our indicted Texas Attorney General has ruled that the Voter ID requirement must continue to be enforced while the case is pending. We will keep you posted on both of these cases.
We Have a Runoff and an Upcoming General Election - You Can Help!
In preparation for the upcoming primary runoff on May 24, 2016 and the general election on November 8, 2016, please contact us now to volunteer in one of the following ways:
