By Glenn Melancon
Some of the most tragic war stories involve friendly fire. There is nothing friendly about guns firing during war. The adjective friendly is added to indicate that the bullet hit an ally instead of an enemy.
During the last legislative session, Republicans crafted one of the most suppressive voter bills in the country.
Republicans saw black and Hispanic voters turn out in record numbers over the two previous elections. They targeted minorities with voter suppression legislation.
They had been some of the least likely Texans to show up at the polls. Republicans banked on this low turn out to keep their grip on power. In 2021 they crafted laws to drive minority voting back down.
County officials around Texas, however, are now reporting that the voter suppression effort is hurting our seniors and disabled.
The weapon doing the most damage is a requirement to list a driver’s license number, or the last four digits of Social Security, on a Vote by Mail Ballot request.
Republicans invented this requirement to fight imaginary voter fraud. Instead of catching or stopping fraud, County Election officials must reject thousands of applications.
Texans who are legally eligible to vote by mail will now be denied because they listed numbers that don’t match the voter file.
This issue is important to me because I have two sons serving in the United States Armed Forces.
They are true patriots, but Republican red tape could keep them from voting.
How do we stop this madness? Here are some things to watch when making your request.
1) Use the new form that has a field for the ID numbers. Don’t use an old form. There is no way to comply with the restrictions without the new form. Old forms will be rejected.
2) Fill the form out completely. The law requires perfect compliance. Small mistakes or omissions violate the law and will force rejection.
3) List BOTH IDs. You have no way of knowing what the county has on file. Don’t guess. Write both numbers on the request.
4) Sign the request. The legislation requires the County to reject unsigned requests.
5) If you already mailed your Vote By Mail Ballot request, call your local Election Administrator. The Republicans tired their hands and they have limited options to reach out to you. You need to reach out to them and fix your request.
None of these hoops were necessary. Republicans had no evidence for voter fraud.
They simply wanted to win elections.
Their hardball tactics, however, have hit seniors and disabled voting rights hard. Don’t fall victim to dirty politics.
Glenn Melancon is a professor of history at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He can be reached at glenn@glennmelancon.com. His opinions are his own and do not reflect those of the Jefferson Jimplecute.