I agree with you about the voter suppression efforts which are infuriating, but I don't think we can call ourselves purple until a Democrat wins a statewide office for the first time in 30 years. Until the blue areas can counteract the millions of voters in _deep_ red West Texas, we aren't purple.
And this is why, any time I see somebody react to a disaster in Texas by saying "They voted for the GOP, so they deserve what they get," I return fire.
What organizations are effectively fighting this sort of thing (in Texas and elsewhere) and how can I help?
I was going to donate to Fair Fight Action (Stacy Abrams’ organization), but they are apparently in turmoil and under investigation for alleged misuse of funds😕
And the man stating this was under felony indictment for securities fraud for a decade, but was allowed to go free and wield power in the meantime because our judicial system is wildly corrupt.
Based on the data, it’s not clear to me this is true. Certainly Texas is electorally oppressive, but so are Georgia, Arizona, and etc.
I’m not saying Texas is a lost cause, or that lots of people aren’t oppressed there. I’m just saying there are obstacles beyond suppression keeping it red.
One of many reasons I don't live there anymore. This scumbag, Abbott, Cruz, and Patrick are part of the Good Old Boys of Texas keeping any change from ever happening. As long as they're in power Texas will never move closer to blue or have fair and free elections.
Yep. I'd go so far as to say it's a Blue State that has been hijacked by cheating republicans that can't win there any other way. Even their Fraud king AG Paxton joins in for the voter suppression.
TL;DR "We had to cheat, otherwise we might have lost," Paxton might as well have said.
So much for the "Party of family values and law enforcement." Paxton and his crooked AF right-wing extremist pals in Texas wouldn't recognize real law enforcement if it bit 'em in the a**. 🤨
That is really condescending and totally misses the real problems: racist voter ID laws, voter registration purges, lack of vote-by-mail, limited voting times, and gerrymandered districts.
We don't need to be saved by pompous californians whose governor is almost as bad as ours anyways.
I can imagine blue Texans being really sick and tired of all the "throw Texas out of the nation" by some on the left. But leave room for actual neighborly acts of support! PS I don't like my governor either! And I don't take the good fortune of having grown up in the Bay Area
It can be tempting to do it once or twice (ex Beto), then throw up your hands and say it is a lost cause, but being competitive statewide cycle after cycle is how all the other flips from red->blue have occurred the last 20 years./end
Huh? Offering help is condescending? I've done get-out-the-vote work in our purple congressional districts. Sometimes people need support to get to the polls, or even to find them. I understand what the real problems are, and sometimes the best thing to do is help 1:1 until the system is reformed.
The articles are about problems with voter registration. Getting people to the polls doesn't help if they aren't registered to vote. The registration deadline is 30 days before the election.
It's a nice idea, but they'd probably pass a law that people with California drivers licenses can't be within a certain distance of polling places. 🥴
It's not that the people of Texas don't help each other out - we're working against a strongly entrenched controlling culture that's got power here.
It's a MidWest thing - we generally feel misunderstood by those from the big coastal cities that probably can't even find us on a map (well, Texas people can find, but I moved here from Missouri!), so we tend to mistrust.
You could sign up to volunteer with Powered by People to help voters update their registrations in Texas remotely, which would actually help right now. https://www.mobilize.us/poweredxpeople/
I'd be happy to do that (unless it's phone, I've discovered that doesn't work for me). But I didn't find that link very descriptive. Do you have a link to the organization? Thanks in advance.
I get removed from the voter rolls every time I use a temp mail forwarding. So, every summer. I own a home, pay property taxes, collect a paycheck from the state. Still, I had to fill out a form online, print it, and then mail it to the state government in order to restore my voting privilege.
The gop-led Congress in CO passed a bill (2009?) to make it easier to vote by mail. As more folks voted, the state has gone blue. But everyone still prefers mail-in voting here. I imagine gop states like Texas saw Colorado as a cautionary tale.
The post office/mailman knows I leave so after a few days of mail, they stop delivering. It’s a whole “thing.” And easier overall to forward my mail. But it’s funny to see Abbott bragging about purging the roles of voters who have moved. I’ve never moved.
This started in 2020. But yeah, it’s nuts. It’s easy to see why people aren’t registered. Viter registration drives in person are great because they can help with the form and then drop them off. Phone banking is harder bc person has to send in the form themselves.
This is your regular reminder that Paxton himself has been in a mysterious “holding pattern”
awaiting trial for committing fraud himself — a holding pattern that’s lasted like 8 frickin’ years.
He shouldn’t even be in office. He should be in jail.
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I was going to donate to Fair Fight Action (Stacy Abrams’ organization), but they are apparently in turmoil and under investigation for alleged misuse of funds😕
My city, 42 sq miles, had 7 drop-off location. Michigan didn't have a problem with voters actually voting.
Latino Civil Rights Group Demands Inquiry Into Texas Voter Fraud Raids
And they screwed over Harris County with the dropbox restrictions.
I’m not saying Texas is a lost cause, or that lots of people aren’t oppressed there. I’m just saying there are obstacles beyond suppression keeping it red.
We need to do it now instead of after a bloody conflict
https://apnews.com/article/paxton-indictment-texas-d5e57fc6cd062c995ced91e9d2542199
texas is an American state and it's being held hostage by un american minority rule
TL;DR "We had to cheat, otherwise we might have lost," Paxton might as well have said.
So much for the "Party of family values and law enforcement." Paxton and his crooked AF right-wing extremist pals in Texas wouldn't recognize real law enforcement if it bit 'em in the a**. 🤨
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/26/texas-voter-registration-election-ken-paxton-investigation/
We don't need to be saved by pompous californians whose governor is almost as bad as ours anyways.
It takes about 2/3 outside funding to reach parity with GOP candidates in TX statewide elections./1
We're all so injured by the Trump years, and have such American social debt to pay off. We can help each other.
It's not that the people of Texas don't help each other out - we're working against a strongly entrenched controlling culture that's got power here.
Not all Californians think Texas is all red ignoramuses.
The gop-led Congress in CO passed a bill (2009?) to make it easier to vote by mail. As more folks voted, the state has gone blue. But everyone still prefers mail-in voting here. I imagine gop states like Texas saw Colorado as a cautionary tale.
You never get to directly vote on:
weapons
healthcare
immigration
or your president!
Clearly there are countries that are much more democratic on this planet.
awaiting trial for committing fraud himself — a holding pattern that’s lasted like 8 frickin’ years.
He shouldn’t even be in office. He should be in jail.
But the Merrick Garland Justice Dept is neutered.
https://apnews.com/article/paxton-indictment-texas-d5e57fc6cd062c995ced91e9d2542199
Still doesn’t make him any less corrupt.
Seriously, he basically just admitted guilt if he’s being forced to pay restitution.
We need MUCH stronger corruption laws.
No one adjudicated guilty of a felony, or found guilty of civil fraud, should be allowed to serve within 10 yrs of that.