Washington, D.C. — After witnessing the power of the Latino vote during the 2018 midterm election that delivered a huge win for Democrats — especially in Texas — Republicans in that state have turned to voter suppression tactics to discourage voters of color from participating in our electoral process.
Last week, Texas’ Republican Secretary of State David Whitley directed counties to check the voter registration status of tens of thousands of registered voters because they had allegedly voted illegally with no clear evidence. President Trump used this to further his racist agenda and to add fuel to his misguided voter fraud conspiracy theory.
“The midterm election was a hard pill to swallow for Republicans—it reminded them that Latinos are an electoral powerhouse that will continue to reject everything that the Republican Party stands for, like their extremist anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric,” said Latino Victory Fund National Press Secretary María R. González. “The GOP is once again relying on another shameful tactic to intimidate Latino voters. The Secretary of State’s actions are irresponsible and will have damaging consequences for voter rights, which sets a dangerous precedent for our democratic electoral process. Latino Victory Fund condemns these actions and stands with the civil rights groups who are fighting against this regressive attempt to disenfranchise Latinos.”
These baseless claims and voter intimidation tactics are not going unnoticed. Here’s what media and civil rights groups are saying:
Houston Chronicle: Harris County pushes back against state’s call for voter purge
[…] “Harris officials had not received the list Monday, but Ray said he’s already skeptical of the use of DPS records that he described as “notoriously” not up-to-date on peoples’ citizenship status. They say many of the people who were not citizens when they got their driver’s licenses may be citizens now given that Texas naturalizes nearly 50,000 people annually.”
Texas Tribune: Some Texas voters are already being asked to prove their citizenship following state’s announcement
[…] “Civil rights groups have pointed to Florida, where a similar methodology was used to create a list of approximately 180,000 registered voters that officials claimed were non-citizens — the number was ultimately reduced to about 85 voters. Amid a court fight, Florida eventually agreed to reinstate 2,600 voters who were mistakenly removed from the rolls because the state classified them as non-citizens.”
Texas Tribune: Civil rights groups warn that Texas voter citizenship check could violate federal law
[…] “Lawyers with 13 organizations — including the Texas Civil Rights Project, the ACLU of Texas, the League of Women Voters of Texas and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund — are demanding that the state rescind an advisory sent to local election officials regarding the individuals whose citizenship status the state says the counties should consider checking. In a letter sent Monday, the groups requested a response by Jan. 30, claiming that the state’s data was flawed and demanding more information about the methodology it used.”
NBC News: Fact check: Trump cites misleading statistics in alleging Texas voter fraud
[…] “Trump has repeatedly said that voter fraud is a significant problem. However, experts have repeatedly concluded that voter fraud is extremely rare.”
Business Insider: Trump tweeted misleading voter fraud statistics, claiming non-citizens voted in Texas
[…] “Trump has a long history of touting unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud, including in remarks around November’s midterms where he said “Republicans don’t win” because of “potentially illegal votes…”
