Thread: TX: Voter ID stuck in House Election Committee-- CALL

Summary of this week's report:

Rep. Todd Smith is STILL delaying passing a voter ID bill with
teeth out of the House Elections committee. Please call and fax
one last time to get him to do the right thing to protect our
elections:

http://www.morrisonreport.com/fax_test/ ... p?faxID=77

Phone: (512) 463-0522

The full report:

Events are moving fast in Austin concerning the much needed Voter
ID bill. There has been a whirlwind of activity, and we are fast
approaching a critical junction which could very well determine if
we get the true Voter ID bill that we're all working toward, or a
much weakened, toothless bill that wouldn't do much to address the
problem. It's now more critical than ever that we keep the
pressure on our Republican legislators to stand strong and refuse
to back down.

The real Voter ID bill, which requires that voters show government
issued photo ID in order to vote, is a critical piece of
legislation that would go a long way toward reducing voter fraud in
Texas. No one knows just how big the problem is, but experts
estimate that there are at least hundreds of thousands of cases of
it across the nation during every election. We know from recent
history just how close elections can be - in 2000, the entire
nation waited with bated breath for over a month as the question of
who would be our next president came down to just a few hundred
votes in Florida.

Thanks to the hard work of Texas conservatives, there is solid
support among Republican legislators in Austin for the true Voter
ID bill. Your phone calls and faxes have clearly demonstrated just
how important this law is to conservative Texans, and most of the
folks in Austin have gotten the message loud and clear: we want a
bill that requires photo identification, and we want it to take
effect as soon as possible. A bill that's missing either of those
components is an unacceptable compromise.

There are 76 Republicans in the Texas House, and 71 of them have
signed a Statement of Principles insisting that both these planks
must be present in any Voter ID bill. If you've ever doubted the
power of faxes and phone calls to influence legislation, this
should convince you just how much of an impact they can have. Only
five GOP legislators aren't on board with us; 71-5 is about as
close to unanimous as it gets in Texas politics.

This is an unprecedented show of unity among Republicans, and even
many "moderates" have signed the Statement of Principles, which
also says: "We are all strongly encouraging Chairman Todd Smith and
the other Representatives on the Elections Committee to present a
bill which protects the integrity of the electoral process, is
fully implemented at the next possible uniform election date and
ensures a reasonable period of advanced registration to allow voter
registrars the time to protect the integrity of the registration
process as well."

Todd Smith is one of the five that are NOT on our side.
Unfortunately, as Chairman of the House Elections Committee, he
wields a lot of power over just what form the final bill will take.
Not only does he have the power to enforce or overlook rules, he
also has a lot of influence over members of the committee. Smith
has decided that it's in his best interests to ignore the will of
his constituents, and the overwhelming majority of Texas
Republicans, and instead try to curry favor with Democrats and the
media, and has come up with a watered down alternative bill.

If Todd Smith's bill wins the day, then Voter ID will be gutted.
Voters won't have to show a photo ID at all, but will be able to
vote by showing two "alternative" forms of identification, such as
a utility bill. In addition, the law won't take effect until at
least 2013, instead of next year. It's vitally important that the
law is enforced during the 2010 elections, because they will
determine which party is in charge when redistricting begins.

Naturally, the media and the Democrats have been praising Todd
Smith ever since he came out with his compromise proposal. He's
been the subject of several flattering editorials in the liberal
media, which have praised him for his "moderation" and "courage" in
opposing the will of the people and his party. Likewise, left wing
Democrats can't find enough good things to say about this turncoat.
They realize that his watered down bill is virtually worthless at
stopping voter fraud, which almost always benefits the Democrats.

So far, Todd Smith has refused to withdraw his compromise bill and
use the full force of his chairmanship to help get the true Voter
ID bill passed, even in the face of nearly unanimous opposition
from members of his own party. However, there are clear signs that
he's starting to feel the heat, and that if we keep up the
pressure, he'll do the right thing. Here's what the Fort Worth
Star-Telegram reported the other day:

Smith said he is prepared to fight for his plan but added that if
the choice is between an Indiana-style photo ID bill or nothing at
all, he would vote for a photo ID bill.

"The reason I take that position," he said, "is it's very clear
that my constituents want something done on the security side of
elections."

Todd Smith may be a sellout, but in the end, he's a politician, and
he wants to be re-elected. If he feels enough heat from his party
and his constituents, he'll quit playing footsy with the Democrats
and do the right thing. He may not like doing it, but if there's
enough pressure on him, he'll do it, just as he told the newspaper.
So it's our job to keep the pressure up until the true Voter ID
bill is passed into law.

Our efforts have already had a huge impact on this debate. It's
truly amazing that out of 76 GOP House members, 71 have signed a
statement opposing their own Elections Chairman. This kind of
display of party loyalty to constituents, in the face of opposition
from its own leadership, is a real rarity. There is no way that
the Republicans in Austin would be this unified if it weren't for
the hard work of thousands of conservative Texans who have taken
the time to call and fax their representatives and insist that this
bill not be watered down. This shows what a difference
conservative activists can make. So let's keep the pressure up!
Let's keep calling and faxing our reps, telling them not to back
down, until Todd Smith feels the heat, and does the right thing.
Then, let's keep building on our efforts and keep this conservative
juggernaut rolling through the rest of the session.

Please call and fax one last time to get Todd Smith to do the right
thing to protect our elections:

http://www.morrisonreport.com/fax_test/ ... p?faxID=77

Phone: (512) 463-0522

Sources:

http://txgop.convio.net/site/News2?page ... _ctrl=1402

http://www.star-telegram.com/legislatur ... 48633.html

The Peter Morrison Report
http://www.PeterMorrisonReport.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Peter-Mor ... 0301468419

Made my calls and sent emails.

Sent fax to Rep. Smith and an email to my state Representative.