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Senate Republicans cleared the way Thursday for new, sweeping restrictions to voting in Texas that take particular aim at forbidding local efforts meant to widen access.

In an overnight vote after more than seven hours of debate, the Texas Senate signed off on Senate Bill 7, which would limit extended early voting hours, prohibit drive-thru voting and make it illegal for local election officials to proactively send applications to vote by mail to voters, even if they qualify.

The legislation is at the forefront of Texas Republicans crusade to further restrict voting in the state after last years election. Although Republicans remain in full control of state government, Texas saw the highest turnout in decades in 2020, with Democrats continuing to drive up their vote counts in the states urban centers and diversifying suburban communities.

Like other proposals under consideration at the Texas Capitol, many of the restrictions in SB 7 would target initiatives championed in those areas to make it easier for more voters to participate in elections.

The bill deemed a priority by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick now heads to the House for consideration after moving rapidly through the Senate. Just two weeks after it was filed, a Senate committee advanced it Friday. That approval followed more than five hours of public testimony, largely in opposition over concerns it would be detrimental to voters who already struggle to vote under the states strict rules for elections.

While presenting the bill to the Senate, Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes said the legislation standardizes and clarifies voting rules so that every Texan has a fair and equal opportunity to vote, regardless of where they live in the state.

Overall, this bill is designed to address areas throughout the process where bad actors can take advantage, so Texans can feel confident that their elections are fair, honest and open, Hughes said.

In Texas and nationally, the Republican campaign to change voting rules in the name of election integrity has been largely built on concerns over widespread voter fraud for which there is little to no evidence. More recently, Texas Republican lawmakers have attempted to reframe their legislative proposals by offering that even one instance of fraud undermines the voice of a legitimate voter.

But Hughes was met by fierce opposition from Senate Democrats who took turns arguing the legislation would make wholesale changes to address isolated and rare incidents of fraud at the expense of voting initiatives that were particularly successful in reaching voters of color.

As I see this bill, its a pure case of suppression. There are some things in here that are really offensive, said state Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston. This hurts to the core.

The bill originally limited early voting hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., curtailing the extended hours offered last year in Harris County and other large counties where voting ran until 10 p.m. for several days to accommodate people, like shift workers, for whom regular hours dont work. The bill was rewritten before it reached the Senate floor to allow for voting only between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

But those hours will still prohibit the day of 24-hour voting Harris County offered last November. The legislation would also outlaw the drive-thru voting set up at 10 polling places in the county for the general election.

While questioning Hughes, Democratic state Sen. Carol Alvarado of Houston referenced an analysis by Harris Countys election office that estimated that Black and Hispanic voters cast more than half of the votes counted both at drive-thru sites and during extended hours.

Knowing that, who are you really targeting? Alvarado asked.

Theres nothing in this bill that has to do with targeting specific groups. The rules apply across the board, Hughes replied.

In defending the portions of the bill that target Harris Countys initiatives, Hughes in part pointed to the limitations he claimed drive-thru and overnight voting presented for poll watchers oversight, characterizing them as the eyes and ears of the public. Poll watchers are not public watchdogs but instead inherently partisan figures, appointed by candidates and political parties to serve at polling places. And poll watchers did have access to observe drive-thru and 24-hour voting last year.

If passed into law, the legislation would broaden poll watchers access at polling places, even giving them power to video record voters receiving assistance in filling out their ballots if the poll watcher reasonably believes the help is unlawful. That provision has drawn particular concerns about possible intimidation of voters who speak languages other than English, as well as voters with intellectual or developmental disabilities who may require assistance through prompting or questioning that could be misconstrued as coercion.

The collection of civil rights organizations that have warned the bill could lead to disenfranchisement of voters of color and voters with disabilities did see one of their most prominent concerns addressed in the version of the bill passed by the Senate.

Texas allows people looking to vote by mail based on a disability to request a ballot for an individual election or apply once for ballots in every election in a calendar year. Originally, the bill would have required voters citing a disability to provide proof of their condition or illness, including written documentation from the Social Security Administration or a doctors note, to qualify for the latter. Hughes endorsed an amendment by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, to nix that requirement, citing the confusion it had created and feedback from advocates for people with disabilities.

But Republicans rejected more than a dozen amendments offered by Democrats to strike other portions of the bill and to clarify language on how local elections officials could make vote-by-mail applications available to voters seeking them. They also rejected an amendment that appeared to affirm the right to vote.

Just before the Senates vote to advance the bill, state Sen. Royce West of Dallas criticized Republicans for not listening to Democrats concerns about how the bill would harm communities of color represented by senators of color all of whom are Democrats who have faced a legacy of suppression when it comes to voting.

I hope that one day you hear us not only hear us but listen to us, West said. Passage of this bill tonight makes clear that on these issues you have not understood our plight in this country.

SB 7s prohibition on sending vote-by-mail applications to voters who havent requested them comes after a pandemic-era election that saw a significant increase in votes cast by mail as voters tried to keep safe from a deadly virus. Other Texas counties proactively sent applications to voters 65 and older, who automatically qualify to vote by mail, but Harris County came under Republicans scrutiny for attempting to send applications to all 2.4 million registered voters in the county with specific instructions on how to determine if they were eligible. The Texas Supreme Court ultimately blocked that effort.

Texas Republicans attempt to prevent a repeated of that echoes efforts in other states, including Georgia, where Republican lawmakers recently passed a similar prohibition. After voters of color helped flip key states into the Democrats column during the presidential election, Republicans have channeled their myth that the election was stolen into legislative pushback in state capitols across the U.S.

Hughes rejected Texas Democrats inferences throughout the debate that his bill is part of a national push from his party. He noted that aspects of SB 7 carried over from failed legislation proposed during the 2019 legislative session.

If we focus on the provisions of this bill not what the feds are doing but whats in this bill and Texas elections well have to agree these are provisions that will apply across the board, theyre consistent, theyre fair, Hughes said.

But Democrats pointed to the focus on increased voting regulations in diverse, urban areas. Beyond the restrictions targeting Harris County, the legislation would also set specific rules for the distribution of polling places in only the handful of counties with a population of at least 1 million most of which are either under Democratic control or won by Democrats in recent national and statewide elections.

Its a strange, strange coincidence that all of these laws are being filed right now, West said. Thats all Im saying.

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Texas Senate advances voter restrictions as part of bigger Republican push - The Texas Tribune

Yettheres little evidence these transplants are the sole, or even the driving,cause of Texass approaching swing-state status. As the Houston Press wrote last year, It is utter nonsenseto assume that every person coming here is some wide-eyed socialist hippie whodreams of high taxes and replacing Whataburgers with soy patties. Another write-up noted that it wassignificantly reductive to ascribe Texass leftward lurch to these new arrivals.

Indeed,theres a kind of cognitive dissonance at play in the Texas rights claim thatthe sole reason for the states political shift is wayward Californians. Afterall, shouldnt these uprooted Californians be fleeing the supposedly failedsocialist policies in California? Why would they be bringing these left-leaningpolicies with them? Are California politicians secretly plotting to spread theseeds of socialism wherever the roots of liberty run deep?

Thiswillingness to pin Texass political changes on an influx of liberals acts as akind of cover, or an excuse, for a state Republican Party unwilling to face newgenerations and demographics of Texans disgusted by the partys Trumpian turn.Younger Texans, nonwhite Texans, second-generation Americans whose immigrantparents selected Dallas and Houston and El Paso as the place to raise theirfamilyall of these contingents are increasingly sloughing off the outdated imagesof Texas that prep schoolers like Roy and Rodimer cling to. Its these true-nativeTexans who are refashioning those tiredtropes,all while steering the state leftward, toward a more multiethnic polity aimedsquarely against the authoritarian rot at the heart of the Texas RepublicanParty.

Buttheres one more irony at the heart of these far-right transplants attemptingto claim the mantle of Texanness. When the state first began convulsing towardindependence in the 1830s, the states residents broke into two camps. On theone end was a multiracial cohort composed of older Anglos and most of thestates Tejanos, content to remain within the anti-slavery republic of Mexico.On the other end was a contingent of young, transplanted Anglos, comprising theso-called War Party.

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The Republican Poseurs Who Claim to Be True Texans - The New Republic

Theres been a concerted push over the last few years to encourage more women to run for elected office, with punchy slogans like Real women run and events and training aimed at supporting female candidates.

Its a worthy endeavor. Despite those efforts, Utah still ranks 40th in the proportion of female representatives at the state legislative level, and women remain underrepresented at other tiers of government, as well.

We got a demonstration of why thats the case over the last several days, as more than a half dozen Republican women came forward about a toxic, abusive culture perpetuated by the leaders of the Salt Lake County Republican Party.

As my colleague Leia Larsen reported, the partys communications consultant, Dave Robinson, had engaged in a months-long pattern of degrading and disparaging these women, making sexually inappropriate and objectifying comments, and threatening to ruin them if he didnt get his way.

Some examples:

Salt Lake County Council candidate Laurie Stringham said in September that Robinson mocked a campaign video she had produced and made sexually inappropriate comments to her.

He tells me if I want to wh--- myself out, that is my choice, Stringham said.

Recorder candidate Erin Preston said Robinson commented on her breasts and backside and had been threatening toward her.

And Councilwoman Aimee Winder Newton raised concerns about Robinsons behavior going back to last summer, Robinson co-authored an email where, among other things, he questioned Newtons sexuality and that of her family.

When all of these women and others took their complaints to County GOP Chairman Scott Miller, he blew them off, telling them thats just how Robinson acts and that they need to get thicker skins.

But Miller wasnt alone in his indifference, a point Stringham drove home in a statement Tuesday evening. After Miller ignored her concerns, Stringham said, It was also immediately reported to other elected officials. Yet it continued and increased.

Stringham specifically told Larsen in an interview that she had discussed Robinson with Councilman Richard Snelgrove. Preston also told me Tuesday she had emailed Snelgrove about the matter and that other party officials knew of the behavior, as well.

After these women and others spoke to The Tribune about Robinsons abuse, rather than apologizing, Miller excused Robinsons actions and attacked the victims, accusing them of trying to sabotage his bid for Utah Republican Party chairman.

Are most of the accusers sore losers who failed to win their respective races? Miller wrote in an incendiary email to county party delegates. Is this an attempt to disrupt my efforts to become the Utah GOP Chairman? I will not be CANCELLED.

There it is, right on cue. The cancel culture excuse that, as I wrote a few weeks ago, has become the most popular dodge to avoid accountability for reprehensible behavior. You call it getting cancelled, everyone else calls it the consequences you deserve.

Miller resigned his party post Sunday, a day after The Tribune story ran and in the face of widespread criticism from Republican leaders, including Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov Deidre Henderson, who condemned Millers indifference and victim-blaming.

Let us be clear: This type of behavior should never happen and when it does we will not tolerate it, ignore it, or explain it away, they said in a joint statement. It is unacceptable.

On Tuesday, the party announced it was forming an ethics committee in the wake of the allegations.

Robinsons mistreatment of these women is obviously shocking and reprehensible and also completely believable to anyone who knows his track record.

Salt Lake County Republican officials called for him to be fired back in 2018, after he blamed the lifestyle LGBTQ youth live, including grundles of sex, for their high suicide rate. (This, remember, is from the county partys communications pro.)

For whatever reason, Miller refused to cut ties with Robinson then, and stuck with him until the end despite being warned again and again of his behavior.

In the face of this debacle Miller is plowing ahead with his campaign for state party chairman, hoping to take his colossally failed leadership to the state level.

In a way, Im glad he is. It gives Republican state delegates a clear opportunity to either condone the unconscionable behavior, or to categorically rebuke Miller and his sidekick and send a clear message that his kind of indifference will not be tolerated.

But lets not pretend this is just a Republican problem. In 2017, several women made similar allegations of abuse and harassment against a candidate for state Democratic Party chairman and the response was bungled as bad, if not worse.

And this boorish behavior is by no means limited to politics.

If youre a woman you know this already and, if youre a man and havent heard the stories of unwanted comments and hostile encounters from your female friends or colleagues, you need to start paying closer attention.

This is a societal problem and it stems from two fundamental failures: First, the failure of certain men, drunk on self-importance and privilege, believing they are somehow entitled to behave like knuckle-dragging fools.

Second, its a failure of those in power overwhelmingly men who lack the clarity or courage or compassion to make clear that abuse in any setting will not be tolerated.

We cant have a climate conducive to elevating women to leadership whether in politics or the boardroom if they are simultaneously being subjected to an abusive environment lacking the structural supports and safeguards to prevent boorish behavior and punish the perpetrators.

Until we get to that point, the high-minded rhetoric about valuing women and their contributions will continue to ring hollow.

See original here:
County Republican Party is the latest example of a culture that professes to want women in leadership, but fails to stand up for them - Salt Lake...

The idea of a so-called vaccine passport to attend professional basketballgames orbook a cruise vacation is being embraced in some areas of the country and abroad.(Photo: Getty)

MADISON Two Republican lawmakers want to bar private businesses and the Evers administration from requiring Wisconsinites to show they are vaccinated against COVID-19 as the state searches for a post-pandemic life.

The idea of a so-called vaccine passport to attend professional basketballgames orbook a cruise vacation without fear of creating a COVID-19 outbreakis being embraced in some areas of the country and abroad.

Rep. Gae Magnafici of Dresser and Sen. Rob Stafsholt of New Richmond are proposing legislationthat aims to prevent such a program to be implemented in Wisconsin by barring government officials and business owners from discriminating based on whether they havereceived a vaccine against COVID-19, or areable to show proof of being vaccinated.

"This legislation is not about whether people should get the vaccine. Anyone that wants to get vaccinatedshould get vaccinated," Stafsholt wrote in a memo to colleagues on Thursday seeking support for the legislation. "This legislation is about preventing government overreach."

"When the panic over COVID-19 fades away, people are going to begin to return to normal life. As a way to make their patrons feel 'safe,'some businesses will begin to discriminate against those who have not or cannot be vaccinated by requiring proof of vaccination," Magnafici said in a separate memo.

Track COVID and the vaccine in Wisconsin: Track the latest data on cases, deaths and our pace on vaccines

Wisconsin vaccine FAQ: Who's eligible, where to get it and what's next

Gae Magnafici (R - Dresser)(Photo: Wisconsineye Live Stream)

New Yorkers began using a first-in-the-nation taxpayer-fundedapp this week called the Excelsior Pass that will be accepted at large-scale venues like Madison Square Garden and other entertainment venues.The app is free to businesses and anyone with vaccination records or test results in New York.

Wisconsin-based Epic Systems, Mayo Clinic, Microsoft and other private and public organizations created a coalition called the Vaccine Credential Initiative, which would help create a digital record of vaccination status and produce a set of guidelines that a company or nonprofit could use to create a digital vaccine passport.

"Individuals can then use those verifiable credentials for medical purposes and to demonstrate their health status to safely return to work, school, travel and life," the coalition said on its website.

State Sen. Rob Stafsholt, R-New Richmond, is shown during the state Senate session Tuesday, March 16, 2021, at the Capitol in Madison, Wis.(Photo: Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Aides to Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who control which legislation moves forward, did not immediately say whether they supported the ideas. A spokeswoman for Evers also did not immediately say whether Evers would sign the bills if they made it to his desk.

Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce, said a debate over vaccine passports is premature because Israel is the only country seriously looking at a widespread program.

Sheehy said the idea raises many questions that deal with privacy, medical records and efficacy.

"The current (paper) cards have only a signature but nothing else to verify. So I dont think a 'vaccine passport'is on the front burner for businesses and their employees or customers," Sheehy said.

Amy Fairchild, a historian and ethicist at Ohio State University, said the biggest challenges with the idea of a digital vaccine passport will be cultural, not technological.

She said just as many Americans have resisted wearing masks during the pandemic, some will reject the idea of showing proof of vaccinationsto get into a ballgame orsee a concert.

Wisconsin lawmakers have been divided along party lines for a year over whether health officials and business owners should require face masks to limit the spread of COVID-19, previewing what kind of fight could emerge if the same kind of requirements appeared forvaccinations.

Karen Weintraub and Elizabeth Weise ofUSA TODAY contributed to this report.

You can find out who your legislators are and how to contact them here.

Contact Molly Beckat molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

Read or Share this story: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/01/two-gop-lawmakers-seek-bar-vaccine-passports-wisconsin/4840575001/

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Could we need a 'vaccine passport' to attend a ball game or concert? Wisconsin GOP lawmakers want to make sure that doesn't happen - Milwaukee Journal...

Republicansare launching a full-court press against the congressional Democrats wide rangingelectionand campaign finance reform bill.

"Its political corruption," the announcer charges in a new commercial that is part ofa major ad blitzby the National Republican Senatorial Committee starting Monday. "Stop the grab. Stop the fraud."

SCHUMER, MCCONNELL, SPAR OVER DEMOCRATS ELECTION BILL DURING RARE COMMITTEE SHOWDOWN

The Senate GOP reelection arm is spending seven figures to run the spots in Arizona, Georgia, Nevadaand New Hampshire, four states they hope to flip from blue to red in the 2022 midterms, when Republicans will aim to win back the majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

In a memo and video released on Monday, NRSC chair Sen. Rick Scott spotlighted a new poll commissioned by the committee to target the measure.

"The bills disguised as election reform, but its really just a dishonest Democrat power grab. You also have to know if you oppose the Democrat power grab, Democrats will call you a racist. The good news is this, the American people dont buy that and theyre on our side," Scott argued.

The bill formally known as the "For the People Act," or as H.R.1 in the House and S.1 in the Senate passed the Democratic-controlled House earlier this month along party lines.

While it now faces an uncertain future in the equally divided Senate, where Democrats in the chamber say it will be a top priority when the Senate session resumes in early April,it is unifying Republicans in opposition.

Longtime Republican operative and strategist Colin Reed said ofthe measure: "To me, feels like a messaging bill that the Democrats are putting forward that doesnt really have a chance at becoming law. But it gives Republicans something to rally around and unite and move the conversation forward into the future."

IOWA'S GOP GOV. TIES HOUSE ELECTION SHOWDOWN TO DEMOCRATS' PUSH FOR MASSIVE REFORM BILL

Congressional Republicans have been railing against the legislation for weeks. And GOP leaders outside of Washington are also taking aim. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa warned that "state election law would be wiped away" if the Democrats bill becomes law. And Mike Pompeo, secretary of state during the Trump administration and a potential 2024 GOP presidential hopeful, charged in Iowa on Friday that the measure is a "raw power grab."

Voters deliver their ballot to a polling station, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

The NRSC isnt alone in spending big bucks to target the bill.

Heritage Action for America, the nonprofit advocacy wing of the influential conservative think tank, recently launched a $10 million push that includes messaging to block what it calls "federal overreach" in the legislation.

Conservative groups such as the Susan B. Anthony List, the American Principles Project, the Tea Party Patriots, as well as Republican Attorney Generals Association, have also ignited efforts to take aim at the bill.

Reed, a Republican presidential and Senate campaign veteran, said the Democrats bill gives Republicans "a chance to find some targets that are juicy to the base and will allow them to be on offense as opposed to reacting to news of the day. They can lay the blame for all the atrocious things in H.R.1 atBiden, Pelosi, andSchumers feet and try to make next year a referendum on them as opposed to having to project a vision of their own."

Democrats highlight that their bill would "improve access to the ballot box" by creating automatic voter registration across the countryand by ensuring that individuals who have completed felony sentences have their full voting rights restored. The bill wouldalso expand early voting and enhance absentee voting by simplifying voting by mail. There was a surge in absentee voting during last years primaries and general election due to health concerns of in-person voting at polling stations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

20 STATE AGS DENOUNCE DEMOCRATS HR1 AS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

The measure also commits Congress to deliver "full congressional voting rights and self-government for the residents of the District of Columbia, which only statehood can provide," prohibits voter roll purges and aims to end "partisan gerrymandering" of congressional districts.

If passed into law, the bill would also enhance federal support for voting system security, increase oversight of election system vendors, upgrade online political ad disclosure and require all organizations involved in political activity to disclose their large donors, create a multiple matching system for small-dollar donations, which would be paid for by a new surcharge on "corporate law breakers and wealthy tax cheats," tighten rules on super PACs, and beef up the enforcement powers of the Federal Election Commission.

Republicans slam the measuresaying it would lead to a federal government takeover of elections andaccuse Democrats of trying to change election rules to benefit themselves. But Democrats say the measure is needed to combat the push by GOP lawmakers in some states where Republicans control the governors office and the legislature to pass bills that would tighten voting laws, which Democrats characterize as voter suppression.

A controversial bill that tightens voting access rules was signed into law on Thursday by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia.

Earlier this month in Iowa, Reynolds signed into law a bill that shortens the early voting period from 29 to 20 days and requires that most absentee ballots be received, rather than just postmarked, by Election Day.

The current push by Republicans state lawmakers to beef up what they call election integrity was ignited by then-President Trumps repeated claims ahead of last Novembers election that the loosening of restrictions on voting by mail would lead to "massive voter fraud" and "rigged" elections.

After his defeat to President Biden, Trump falsely said that the election was "stolen" as he unsuccessfully tried to upend Bidens victory. Recent polling indicates that election integrity remains a major concern for Republican voters.

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Reed, the GOP strategist, notedthat the issues of election integrity and voter suppression excite both sides.

"Its a juicy thing to both bases. Democrats will argue that Republicans are disenfranchising voters and Republicans will argue that Democrats are putting in place polices that will make it impossible for them to ever win an election again," Reed said. "Base messaging is motivated by fear and both of those have a way of spinning up the supporters in each camp into action and unification."

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S1 slammed as 'political corruption' as Republicans go all-in on attacking Dems' election reform bill - Fox News