Ballot Box Battle
On Thursday, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered that Texas counties can only have one mail-in drop-off ballot location — no matter how big that county might be. Abbott said the decree will secure the drop off ballot process. But critics and pro-democracy advocates call this a blatant voter suppression move. Grace Chimene is the president of the League of Women Voters of Texas. With 100 years of experience, the League is one of the oldest and most trusted civic nonprofit organizations in the United States.
Disability Voting Rights
Citizens who are living with a disability have the right to vote — but in Texas exercising that right isn’t as accessible as it could be. There are multiple barriers that could be removed without weakening voter security, according to organizations like Disability Rights Texas. Lia Davis is an attorney for Disability Rights Texas. She said there are Texas citizens who live with a disability who deal with unnecessary difficulties in order to vote.
Dallas Piggy Bank
When it comes to elections, it’s money that fuels campaigns. Donor checks pay for the TV spots, the misleading Facebook ads, direct mail and get out the vote efforts. Where does that money come from? In some cases, it’s a lot of little donations, but then there are the super donors. These are the ultra rich who every year will write million dollar checks to candidates. But what do they get in exchange?
A new podcast from the Center for Public Integrity called “The Heist” looks at the role that Texas plays in pay for play politics. The first episode is called “The Dallas Piggy Bank,” and it’s based on the reporting of Sarah Kleiner. The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom investigating democracy, power and privilege. They are at publicintegrity.org.
