Friend,
It has been an eventful week here in your Capitol. As you have certainly seen on the news, the Democrats have chosen to flee the state on private jets rather than roll up their sleeves and do the work their constituents elected them to do. And over what? A false narrative that us Republicans are trying to suppress Texans’ right to vote.
There is an enormous misinformation campaign being spread about SB 1 – the Senate’s election integrity bill. I want to take this moment to discuss why this bill makes it EASIER to vote, and NOT harder as the media and the left are making it out to be.
The bill does in fact make it easier to vote, harder to cheat, and a lot of things to ensure you, and every Texan, is confident that our elections are working the way they should. Let’s dig into the bill:
• SB 1 expands polling hours significantly and makes polls even more accessible to voters including early voting on weekends. You’ve likely heard some claim that there are shift workers who cannot make it to the polls due to work. SB 1 solves this. To ensure employees are given the opportunity to vote, SB 1 creates an offense if an employer does not allow an employee time off to vote if the polls are not open more than 2 hours outside the employees’ work schedule. SB 1 ensures EVERY Texan can get to the polls after work. With extended poll hours and 12 days of early voting, Texas remains one of the states with the most generous polling open hours in the country.
Sometimes voters get to the polling place right as the polls are closing. SB 1 ensures that as long as you are in line by closing time, they must allow you to vote during both early voting and on election day.
• Now let’s talk about mailin ballots. The usage of mail-in ballots has grown significantly across Texas and this bill does NOT prohibit them. Voters often make mistakes, such as forgetting to sign the envelope. SB 1 has several provisions to help the voter and county correct these simple clerical mistakes so that the mailin ballot can be accepted. It also allows the signature verification committee to compare the signature on the ballot envelope to a wider acceptable list of known signatures. This helps ensure every legal vote is counted. SB 1 also widens the defini
tion of who is eligible to receive assistance in marking or reading their ballot. This makes it easier to vote for those who cannot read English and even the blind who wish to use paper ballots. As a practicing ophthalmologist, I am pleased that increasing access to voting for the visually impaired was included in SB 1.
One of the biggest myths is that somehow this bill makes it harder to return your mail-in ballot. Voters can still return their ballot at their very own mailbox, any USPS drop box, or in person at the county election’s office. Once again, the Democrats and the media are repeating false talking points!
SB 1 affords the same privacy protections you expect when voting in a voting booth to those voting in their vehicle. Only those eligible to be in the booth with a voter, like an interpreter or other assistance, can be in a vehicle when a voter is casting their ballot. This is a common sense protection of their vote and this bill does NOT impede on this ability.
• What this bill does NOT have is any provision making it harder to vote. That is simply a political talking point designed to divide Texans’ and for fundraising by the left. The media should be ashamed that they are fueling the fire of these false claims and should read the bill before echoing the talking points of the left.
I am committed to increasing the security and confidence in our electoral process. It is a complex issue made worse by all the misinformation being peddled. I won’t be deterred by the antics from the left and I hope you won’t be either.
For Texas, Senator Dawn Buckingham