Texas Republicans' plan would slash polling places in areas with higher shares of voters of color

[TomCADem]

Source: MSN/The Hill

A proposal by Texas Republicans to change how Election Day polling places are distributed would reduce the amount of polling options for areas with a higher percentage of voters of color, according to an analysis conducted by the Texas Tribune.

The bill would create a new formula for how polling places are set and would mostly affect Democratic counties with populations over 1 million, the Tribune reports. The bill would require countries to distribute polling places based on the number of registered voters within a county's state House district.

Under the proposed changes, the five largest counties in Texas would be affected: Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar and Travis. Collin County may also be affected depending on census figures that are released this year, the Tribune notes.

According to the Tribune's analysis, the bill would only reduce the number of polling places in districts represented by Democrats. It would remove 73 polling places across 13 Democratic-represented House districts and redistribute out across seven Republican-represented districts and two Democrat-represented districts.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/texas-republicans-plan-would-slash-polling-places-in-areas-with-higher-shares-of-voters-of-color-analysis/ar-AAKiE9q?li=BB141NW3

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A story about yet another Republican bill to suppress voting.

Republicans understand that a growing majority of people opposing their divisive, racist and anti-science rhetoric. However, rather then change their message, they are doubling down and taking advantage of their control of the federal courts, plus their control of state legislatures to try to prevent minorities from voting. The so-called pro-freedom party is seeking to structurally guarantee one-party rule in areas like Texas.

[OnDoutside]

1. If only there was a voting protection bill sitting at the door of the Senate.

I'm sure they'd see the utter fucking imperative in passing it like tomorrow....wait, what ?

[TomCADem]

4. Of course, this underscores the importance of winning elections...

...every Senate seat counts. We spend so much time complaining about Joe Manchin, but what about the 50 Republicans who are actively supporting such voter suppression efforts. Even so-called Republican moderates like Susan Collins are all in on voter suppression.

Likewise, this shows that every election is important. Ironically, the better a job a Democrat in the White House does, the more some voters are willing to phone it safe in the knowledge that Biden is going to hold the line against some of the crazier things that Republicans will do. However, that is not the case. We can't just ignore elections at any level because Biden is not going to try to actively overthrow the government and install himself as a dictator.

To the contrary, Republicans at the State level understand the importance of redistricting and the midterms, and rank and file Democrats needs to step up locally as well.

[OnDoutside]

5. While I agree, it's frustrating that they are prioritizing the Infrastructure Bill

above S1. They're only one failing health Senator away from Majority Leader McConnell. Time is not on their side.

[dalton99a]

2. Kick

[maxrandb]

3. Chief Justice Roberts is A- OK with this

Last edited Sun May 23, 2021, 05:44 PM - Edit history (1)

Right Johnny, racist voter suppression...we fixed all that...right?

Dear John,

Go fuck yourself sideways with a First Edition Hard Cover copy of Atlas Shrugged, you worthless piece of amphibian shit.

You've fucking destroyed the Supreme Court.

All its future rulings will mean fucking nothing.

[OnDoutside]

6. It's really surprising that the Blue side aren't making a bigger deal

of this. They should be staining him with the Man who destroyed American Politics. Relentlessly.

[exboyfil]

7. Elevate him to Taney status

At least Taney wasn't as regressive for his time.

[maxrandb]

9. If he's worried about the reputation of the Supreme Court

He's too fucking late. Might as well stick a fork in it and work to replace that fucking dinosaur.

It's either not working, or it's working exactly as designed. In either case, Roberts, Mcconnell and Donnie Dipshit have ruined it, I fear, beyond repair.

[OnDoutside]

10. Exactly. Rubbish the shit out what remains of his reputation.

[LymphocyteLover]

14. By some analysis, he's done more to damage the country more than anyone else

and helped pave the way for the likes of Velveeta Voldemort

[louis-t]

8. They don't even try to hide it anymore.

[LymphocyteLover]

12. Right? How is this even legal?

[pwb]

11. Can we expel Texas?

They have a bunch of imported assholes in office who went to Texas for that easy win. Voters don't seem to pay much attention to the people over the 3 word slogans.

[yellowdogintexas]

13. all of these counties have a county wide voting system. This means we can vote

anywhere on Election Day. So if our old polling place has been closed, there will be several more nearby we can use.

Or if you work in one part of the county and live in the other you can vote in the area where you work.

I have not seen or heard anything about making any changes to this. A total of 54 Texas counties now use county wide voting.

At least here all our early voting locations are the sub courthouses, community centers, public libraries and other well known locations. Voters can choose any one of them.

[Major Nikon]

15. Banana Republicans

[geretogo]

16. This is what's called " American Exceptionalism ".

[Javaman]

17. I live in Austin. And I have been referring to Texas now as

the only state in the nation run as a dictatorship.

they control all branches by a good majority. Our AG is a convicted felon who has "somehow" stays out of prison.

if there ever was a better example of the "good ol' boys" racist network around, I have yet to see it.

[Lonestarblue]

18. Texas has been closing polling sites in minority districts for years now.

The Guardian had an article last year reporting that Texas had closed 750 sites since 2012, most of them in minority districts with population growth. They left most of the Republican sites in place even when population in those areas had declined.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/02/texas-polling-sites-closures-voting

The key to Democrats winning elections in Texas is the same as always—connect with voters personally to learn their concerns, register voters, and then get them to vote during the early election when there are more polling sites available.

I think Democrats did not do enough in 2020 to connect with Hispanic citizens and voters. There are not a one-size-fits-all voting bloc. One of the biggest issues is the border. People from Mexico cross the border in cities like El Paso to shop, thus supporting the economies of those communities. But those are people from Mexico shopping in Texas Hispanic communities—not the Central American migrants whose needs overshadow those of local citizens as charities and local government money goes to helping them instead of local citizens in need. That is a problem.

Every spike in crimes is typically blamed on people crossing the border illegally. Even here in Austin, many people want a border wall preventing any illegal crossings because of increased crime. Just last week, two young Hispanic men (legal status unknown) accosted shoppers with a gun and hijacked their cars—a Land Rover and a Porsche—in an upscale neighborhood in broad daylight in grocery parking lots with many people around. Those are the things that make people vote for “tough-on-crime” Republicans, who offer no apologies and don’t care whether their actions are humane or not. I don’t want Democrats to be like them, but I do want Democrats to consider the issues here and craft effective responses to needs.

We dismissed Trump’s border wall as ineffective, which it was and is, but we cannot afford to dismiss the real issues at the border that affect the economics and safety of border communities.

[TexasBushwhacker]

19. I don't know about other places

But in Texas, you can vote early at any place in your county. So it's all the more reason to vote early.