On Tuesday, President Biden told a crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that he was directing Vice President Kamala Harris to fight Republican efforts regarding the voting processes around the nation. “To signify the importance of our efforts, today I’m asking Vice President Harris to help these efforts, and lead them, among her many other responsibilities,” he said. “With her leadership and your support, we’re gonna overcome again, I promise you, but it’s gonna take a hell of a lot of work.”
Harris issued a statement soon after Biden’s pronouncement in which she stated, “In the days and weeks ahead, I will engage the American people, and I will work with voting rights organizations, community organizations, and the private sector to help strengthen and uplift efforts on voting rights nationwide. And we will also work with members of Congress to help advance these bills.”
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) took note of Harris’ assignment and fired back on Twitter, “Luckily for election integrity efforts happening in states like Texas, she will be about as competent at this as she has been securing the southern border. And for Democrats, ‘voting rights’ is woke code for ‘make elections impossible to secure.’ The recent backlash against reforms in Texas is laughably exaggerated.”
And for Democrats, “voting rights” is woke code for “make elections impossible to secure.”
The recent backlash against reforms in Texas is laughably exaggerated. See my last fact check on this: https://t.co/RnE6nWMUkv
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) June 1, 2021
Then Crenshaw issued a fact-check list of his own pointing out what the Texas GOP bills “actually do,” instead of the Democrats’ characterizations of them:
1) Accountability at Polls: Puts safeguards in place so poll watchers aren’t denied access, improving transparency and confidence in results. (Dem officials put obstacles in the way of poll watchers in the 2020 election. HB6 fixes that.)
2) Stops Voter Assistance Fraud: HB6 protects individuals who require assistance (such as seniors or those with vision limitations) by *requiring information from the assister*. Why? Because these voters are more likely to be victimized by partisan activists.
3) Increases penalties against ballot harvesting, the practice of gathering and submitting completed absentee or mail-in voter ballots by third-party individuals, volunteers or workers, rather than submission by voters themselves directly to ballot collection sites.
4) Uniform Voting Times: SB7 creates uniformity in early voting times to reduce confusion while ensuring at least 12 hours a day and polling places can be open until 9 PM. This fixes the different voting times in different counties that confused voters.
5) Secure and Fair Voting Locations: SB7 prohibits universal drive-thru voting, prohibits election officials from distributing mail in applications to people who didn’t request one, and ensures polling places and machines are distributed fairly based on number of eligible voters. This prevents you from getting someone else’s ballot, which often happens when the state universally mails out ballots based on addresses from imperfect registration rolls. And population-based machine distribution is necessary b/c Democrats were packing their favored precincts with extra machines.
6) Strengthens Ballot Security: Requires that voting machines are able to produce a paper audit trail and requires live streaming of counting for large counties.
Crenshaw noted, “Does any of that sound like racist voter suppression? No, of course not. The majority of these reforms simply unwind the ’emergency measures’ implemented during the pandemic.”
2) Stops Voter Assistance Fraud: HB6 protects individuals who require assistance (such as seniors or those with vision limitations) by *requiring information from the assister*.
Why? Because these voters are more likely to be victimized by partisan activists.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) April 7, 2021
4) Uniform Voting Times: SB7 creates uniformity in early voting times to reduce confusion while ensuring at least 12 hours a day and polling places can be open until 9PM.
This fixes the different voting times in different counties that confused voters.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) April 7, 2021
5 contd) This prevents you from getting someone else’s ballot, which often happens when the state universally mails out ballots based on addresses from imperfect registration rolls.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) April 7, 2021
6) Strengthens Ballot Security: Requires that voting machines are able to produce a paper audit trail and requires live streaming of counting for large counties.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) April 7, 2021
Does any of that sound like racist voter suppression? No, of course not. The majority of these reforms simply unwind the “emergency measures” implemented during the pandemic.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) April 7, 2021
He added of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, “Mayor Turner said ‘these bills are Jim Crow 2.0.’ Jim Crow voting restrictions included poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses. It is absurd to make these comparisons since absolutely no provision would stop a person from voting. But Democrats and woke corporations don’t care about facts. They don’t even care about making it ‘easier’ for people to vote. They just care about dividing people with identity politics because it gives them more power. Don’t listen to them. Don’t trust them.”
Read the full text of the bill here.
But Democrats and woke corporations don’t care about facts. They don’t even care about making it “easier” for people to vote. They just care about dividing people with identity politics because it gives them more power.
Don’t listen to them.
Don’t trust them.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) April 7, 2021