Groups push back against ‘disinformation’ published about election reform

By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square

The New York Times has done a “terrible job explaining what exactly is in the election integrity bills before the Texas Legislature,” Chad Ennis at the Texas Public Policy Foundation argues.

“There is an astounding amount of disinformation surrounding Texas Legislature’s election integrity bills,” he states. “Among the many mischaracterizations, two stand out: claims of racism buttressed by fabricated history and the objections to letting poll watchers do their jobs.”

But what the media isn’t reporting is that while other states like Georgia have passed election reform laws in less than 30 days, the Texas Legislature has complicated what could have been a simple process, Direct Action Texas, Texas’ leading election integrity advocacy organization, argues.

“To its shame, Texas lags other states when it comes to reforming elections in 2021,” Daniel Greer, who heads Direct Action, told The Center Square. “Take Georgia, for instance, where a clean election integrity bill passed in 30 days, and included a provision mandating Voter ID for mail-in balloting. Right now, this common-sense policy isn’t part of Texas’ omnibus election integrity bill.”

Democrats have criticized Georgia’s election laws as being overly restrictive, limiting early voting access, banning ballot drop boxes, and requiring voter ID.

Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, declared in January that election reform was an emergency legislative item, meaning the legislature is required to take it up according to state law.

Earlier this year, Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, filed SB7 to advance election reform, announcing the priorities in a news conference in March with Abbott and House Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park. SB7 passed the Senate and was sent to the House.

Instead of holding a hearing on SB7, Cain gutted the bill and replaced it with HB6, which didn’t have the same provisions. What resulted was a flurry of 140 amendments added within hours that transformed the bill into something other than Bettencourt’s bill.

Ultimately, 20 amendments were debated, HB6 was abruptly voted on and passed. The details of the bill will be hashed out in conference committee.

Direct Action summarized what occurred, listing each amendment proposed by Democrats and Republicans and whether they were adopted. The advocacy organization is urging Texans to call their legislators to demand that key provisions initially included in SB7 be included in the conference committee bill.

In addition to this bill, another 16 bills were proposed in the House addressing specific election-related issues, many of which have not been voted on as they have yet to make it through committees. Texas Scorecard, an influential conservative grassroots organization, is tracking the status of 17 House election-related bills.

One House bill, which passed the Senate Thursday, received bipartisan support. HB 574, filed by Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, makes “knowingly or intentionally” counting invalid votes or refusing to count valid votes a new election offense and second-degree felony. Dallas Democrat Sen. Royce West supported the measure on the Senate floor Wednesday. He said the penalty of prison time for voter fraud “shows the seriousness of someone taking these kinds of actions during an election. That applies to a Democrat or a Republican.”

The legislature has until May 31 to pass bills in order for them to be considered by the governor.