Quote:
Originally Posted by crystalworks
Well, in Texas' case they are trying to limit polling hours, limit mail in ballots, and banning "drive through" polling. Then there is the added "partisan poll watcher" language. They are already allowed in the room by poll workers. If one of them (from either party) gets close too close to my polling booth, there's going to be a problem.
Some things in the proposed bill I agree with (ID checks and registration confirmation), but the above is just sour grapes for having lost the executive branch. Well, that, and fear of losing more seats in Congress.
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07...ecial-session/
As to the left wanting to regulate everyone into submission to "defeat" covid... it's just not going to happen. All the democrats are running around with no mask on now after being vaccinated and catching covid, spreading it, etc. When Trump and the republicans were doing things like that it was the end of the world. Just another example that most politicians are a bunch of self-serving hypocrites that should be voted out of office immediately. |
I'll try and go in order and down your list of comments, but I sometimes end up getting out of order (sorry in advance)
Voting hours are actually expanded under the bills with the exception of Harris county which for the 1st time ever instituted 24hr voting due to covid19.
"Bills 1 and 3 add an extra hour of required early voting hours for local elections, moving it from 8 hours to 9. And both bills lower the population threshold for counties required to provide at least 12 hours of early voting each weekday of the second week of early voting in state elections."
Mail in ballots had to be requested except in Harris county in 2020 when they tried to send them out to all 2.4 million registered voters. Which was found to be illegal by the Texas Supreme Court and blocked it from implementation.
Drive thu voting was 1st tried in Harris county in 2020 and they opened 10 "centers" for the general election. It was considered as problematic since poll watchers were unable to verify voter's id's due to distance requirements under covid19 and issues with placements supporting democrat areas over republican.
The partisan poll watchers portion only clarifies the current law. (see below)
Bills 1 and 3 include language to strengthen the autonomy of partisan poll watchers at polling places by granting them “free movement” within a polling place, except for being present at a voting station when a voter is filling out their ballot. Both chambers also want to make it a criminal offense to obstruct their view or distance the watcher “in a manner that would make observation not reasonably effective.”
Currently, poll watchers are entitled to sit or stand “conveniently near” election workers, and it is a criminal offense to prevent them from observing.
It is because of the phrase conveniently near is easily open to abuse either conveniently too far to be effective or too close to be not seen as intimidation.
As you can see these were all 1st time events and done for supposed covid19 mitigation (except for poll watchers) and only in the heaviest democrat stronghold in Texas. It should also be noted that these rules are only changing things done for the 1st time due to covid19 emergency or in the case of mail-in hadn't ever happened so it can't be claimed to roll back a service that was offered previously.
As for vaccination requirements....
Fauci and by extension the government, CDC, etc have come out and advocated for vaccines for children to attend school, maintain 2m spacing for children (group least affected/at risk).
I do agree completely about voter id too.
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