I’m fighting for a Texas in which everyone’s voice is heard at the ballot box and everyone has faith and trust in the electoral process.
Former President Lyndon Johnson said, “the vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice.” Unfortunately…somebody forgot to tell the Texas Legislature.
We need to make it easier for all Texans to vote and have confidence in the electoral process.
In this past session, we fought blatant voter suppression bills including S.B. 1, which is already wreaking havoc on voter registration, voting by mail, and access to the ballot box.
This is unacceptable. A healthy and vibrant democracy is made up of an informed and engaged electorate that can equitably participate.
We must increase equal access to the ballot box by passing legislation that:
- Permits Texans who will be 18 by Election Day to vote in that year’s Primary Election
- Allows Texans to register to vote easily, such as by online and same-day registration
- Improves vote by mail and in-person voting for voters with disabilities
- Ensures polling places are countywide vote centers by need so a voter can cast their vote at any location during early voting or on Election Day
- Restores mobile voting to serve students, seniors, and rural voters
- Increases funding and training for cybersecurity upgrades
I’ve helped increase equal access to the ballot box by passing legislation that:
- Creates a state-wide, online tool to allow voters to track the status of their applications to vote by mail as well as their ballots (House Bill 1382)
- Ensures voters with disabilities are able to request reasonable accommodations or modifications entitled to by law (amendment to Senate Bill 1)
- Consolidates required election notices on the Secretary of State or the Counties’ Elections websites, where the vast majority of voters will seek it out (House Bill 933)
- Requires street addresses to be included as part of polling place notices so it’s easier for voters to find voting locations (House Bill 1241)
- Moves existing laws around political signs to a newly-created section of the Elections Code to easily see how to engage in protected political speech (House Bill 2554)
- Uses Voter Unique ID numbers to put up lists of who has voted on Secretary of State’s website for primary and general elections, and those ordered by the governor to fill a vacancy so this cuts down on local governments to respond to repetitive open records requests (House Bill 3350)