Texas’ anti-democratic voting bill
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The [current] burden of proof for voter fraud charges in Texas is “clear and convincing evidence.” The bill [SB 7] would change that standard to “preponderance of the evidence.”
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A related measure would allow a judge to overturn an election if the total number of ballots found to be fraudulent exceeds the margin of victory. In such cases, a judge could “declare the election void without attempting to determine how individual voters voted.”So bad that the Senate Republicans had to scrap the usual senate rule in the last minute to cram it through along party line at 10pm Saturday night.
In a surprise maneuver, the Texas Senate voted along party lines Saturday night to scrap its usual rules and force a debate and vote on the bill after 10 p.m., over the objections of Democrats. ...
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“How did you decide 10 p.m. tonight was the right time?” ... “If we are going to be getting into a 100-page bill that affects how everyone in this state is going to be voting, registering to vote, running elections, does that not seem like we’re really not doing it when the public can be watching?” -
The [current] burden of proof for voter fraud charges in Texas is “clear and convincing evidence.” The bill [SB 7] would change that standard to “preponderance of the evidence.”
.
A related measure would allow a judge to overturn an election if the total number of ballots found to be fraudulent exceeds the margin of victory. In such cases, a judge could “declare the election void without attempting to determine how individual voters voted.”So bad that the Senate Republicans had to scrap the usual senate rule in the last minute to cram it through along party line at 10pm Saturday night.
In a surprise maneuver, the Texas Senate voted along party lines Saturday night to scrap its usual rules and force a debate and vote on the bill after 10 p.m., over the objections of Democrats. ...
...
“How did you decide 10 p.m. tonight was the right time?” ... “If we are going to be getting into a 100-page bill that affects how everyone in this state is going to be voting, registering to vote, running elections, does that not seem like we’re really not doing it when the public can be watching?”@axtremus said in Texas’ anti-democratic voting bill:
A related measure would allow a judge to overturn an election if the total number of ballots found to be fraudulent exceeds the margin of victory.
Didn't read the story, but doesn't that just sound like common sense? I'm not sure if a judge is the person to do this, rather than a commission or something, but the concept seems reasonable.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Two things:
- The Houston Chronicle is a pretty left-wing outfit for a newspaper. They toe the Dem talking points well.
- Texas has had some problems in recent elections. Folks have been tried and convicted. And there are suspicions they missed some vote fraud.
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@axtremus said in Texas’ anti-democratic voting bill:
A related measure would allow a judge to overturn an election if the total number of ballots found to be fraudulent exceeds the margin of victory.
Didn't read the story, but doesn't that just sound like common sense? I'm not sure if a judge is the person to do this, rather than a commission or something, but the concept seems reasonable.
@george-k said in Texas’ anti-democratic voting bill:
@axtremus said in Texas’ anti-democratic voting bill:
A related measure would allow a judge to overturn an election if the total number of ballots found to be fraudulent exceeds the margin of victory.
Didn't read the story, but doesn't that just sound like common sense? I'm not sure if a judge is the person to do this, rather than a commission or something, but the concept seems reasonable.
Yeah, typically the results of an election wouldn’t even be considered “valid” unless certified by some election board or commission.
Should a court of law have the power to overturn an election? Even if you want to say yes, you’d qualify that and say “only with high standards of proof.” But Texas SB 7 simultaneously LOWERS the standard of proof and give the court more power to overturn elections. That is a bad combo.
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Texas Democrats walk out of legislature, avoiding their duty to represent the people and obey the will of the majority.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-voting-bill-democrats-walk-out/
Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives kept a bill with sweeping new voting restrictions from passing by walking out shortly before a midnight deadline, denying the majority Republicans a quorum.
Republican Governor Greg Abbott promptly said he would call a special session to try again to get it approved, but didn't say when that would be.
The bill, known as Senate Bill 7, would have imposed a raft of election changes that eliminated drive-thru voting, empowered partisan poll watchers and imposed new requirements in order to cast a ballot by mail in Texas, which already has some of the toughest voting laws in the nation.
Less than 24 hours earlier, the bill seemed all but guaranteed to reach Abbott's desk. The Texas Senate had approved the measure in a vote before sunrise, after Republicans used a bare-knuckle procedural move to suspend the rules and take up the measure in the middle of the night during the Memorial Holiday weekend.
But as Sunday night wore on in the House, the GOP's chances wobbled.
About two hours before the midnight deadline to pass the bill, Democrats began filing out of the chamber in greater and greater numbers, denying Republicans the quorum necessary to hold a final vote.
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Texas Democrats walk out of legislature, avoiding their duty to represent the people and obey the will of the majority.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-voting-bill-democrats-walk-out/
Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives kept a bill with sweeping new voting restrictions from passing by walking out shortly before a midnight deadline, denying the majority Republicans a quorum.
Republican Governor Greg Abbott promptly said he would call a special session to try again to get it approved, but didn't say when that would be.
The bill, known as Senate Bill 7, would have imposed a raft of election changes that eliminated drive-thru voting, empowered partisan poll watchers and imposed new requirements in order to cast a ballot by mail in Texas, which already has some of the toughest voting laws in the nation.
Less than 24 hours earlier, the bill seemed all but guaranteed to reach Abbott's desk. The Texas Senate had approved the measure in a vote before sunrise, after Republicans used a bare-knuckle procedural move to suspend the rules and take up the measure in the middle of the night during the Memorial Holiday weekend.
But as Sunday night wore on in the House, the GOP's chances wobbled.
About two hours before the midnight deadline to pass the bill, Democrats began filing out of the chamber in greater and greater numbers, denying Republicans the quorum necessary to hold a final vote.
@george-k said in Texas’ anti-democratic voting bill:
Texas Democrats walk out of legislature, avoiding their duty to represent the people and obey the will of the majority.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-voting-bill-democrats-walk-out/
Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives kept a bill with sweeping new voting restrictions from passing by walking out shortly before a midnight deadline, denying the majority Republicans a quorum.
Republican Governor Greg Abbott promptly said he would call a special session to try again to get it approved, but didn't say when that would be.
The bill, known as Senate Bill 7, would have imposed a raft of election changes that eliminated drive-thru voting, empowered partisan poll watchers and imposed new requirements in order to cast a ballot by mail in Texas, which already has some of the toughest voting laws in the nation.
Less than 24 hours earlier, the bill seemed all but guaranteed to reach Abbott's desk. The Texas Senate had approved the measure in a vote before sunrise, after Republicans used a bare-knuckle procedural move to suspend the rules and take up the measure in the middle of the night during the Memorial Holiday weekend.
But as Sunday night wore on in the House, the GOP's chances wobbled.
About two hours before the midnight deadline to pass the bill, Democrats began filing out of the chamber in greater and greater numbers, denying Republicans the quorum necessary to hold a final vote.
Righteous people who are on the right side of history are above the law, just ask pop culture.
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Related but not really related.
I thought a quorum was one more than half? If the Republics had a majority, did they not have a quorum also?
(Of course, Texas may have different rules for quorum or maybe there are three or more parties involved?)
