A senator from East Texas is attempting to make illegal voting a felony after authoring a law in 2021 to protect election integrity and put a stop to ballot harvesting and unauthorized voting.
According to Senate Bill 2, which was written by Bryan Hughes, a Republican from Mineola, voting illegally would become a felony rather than a Class A misdemeanor.
If adopted, SB 2 would change the Election Code so that anyone found to have committed any of these crimes would be charged with a second-degree felony. Nonetheless, if they are found guilty of attempting certain crimes, they will be sentenced to state prison:
- Voting or making an attempt to vote when a person is aware they aren’t entitled to do so
- voting in an election, or attempting to vote, more than once
- voting on someone else’s ballot, attempting to vote on someone else’s ballot, or voting under a false identity
- Vote-marking or attempting to vote-mark any portion of another person’s ballot without that person’s authorization or without having received precise instructions on how to vote
- Voting or attempting to vote in Texas after voting in another state in which the race is for a federal office and the Election Day is on the same day
Hughes’ Senate Bill 1, also known as the Election Integrity Protection Act of 2021, was passed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in 2021. Drive-through and 24-hour voting were prohibited by the statute. It also established consistent early voting hours. Sending voters unsolicited mail-in ballot applications is a crime for local election officials.
When requesting a mail-in ballot and returning it, voters must provide their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. Voter assistance volunteers must fill out documents to prove their relationship to the voter. Observers of partisan polls must complete training. The Texas Secretary of State’s Office is mandated to cross-reference its voter registration list with the DPS database to weed out any non-citizens.
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Critics Doubt the Purpose of Texas Lawmakers’ Proposal
According to legal experts, the new law’s clause may have an effect on voters who are aware of the circumstance that prevents them from voting but who aren’t actually conscious that they aren’t eligible to do so. Examples include anyone who is aware that they are a convicted felon or are not a citizen of the United States but is unaware that this disqualifies them from voting.
Notwithstanding any proof of significant voter fraud in Texas, the change’s proponents said on Monday that they believe it will serve as a deterrent. Sharon Edwards, a bill supporter, stated to the panel on Monday that increasing the fine would be the only way to catch people’s attention and stop additional election fraud.
Its opponents questioned its intent and underlined how it would further scare voters in Texas and deny them the right to vote. During the House’s discussion of the omnibus voting bill last session, the penalty for voting illegally was decreased to a misdemeanor. Until Abbott signed the law, no one noticed the change. Patrick stated that the modification made at the last minute must be remedied in 2021.
The new law was included in Patrick’s list of legislative objectives for this session. A person might receive up to 20 years in prison and fines totaling more than $10,000 if they are proven guilty of the offense.
The same objective was the subject of at least five other legislation submitted to the House and Senate. Abbott requested that the penalty for voting illegally be increased back in 2021 during a special legislative session, but Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan expressed doubt at the time, preventing Abbott’s proposal from becoming law.
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