Tag Archives: True The Vote

Houston, Houston Politics, Texas Politics

Texans Together Calls For US Justice Investigation Of Greg Abbott

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All things considered in this high election season, many are quite surprised that the bombshell revelation that Attorney General Greg Abbott ordered an armed police raid of a Houston voter group has not received more attention from news media.  But the low profile of this case could soon be changing very quickly.

This is bold request from the advocacy group Texans Together, and it’s aimed squarely at Greg Abbott, and the Harris county Clerk’s office…

We recently made a formal, written request to the U.S. Justice Department to immediately investigate Texas and Harris County officials for voter suppression in Harris County (see letter here). We are asking for a federal investigation of not only the Texas Attorney General’s Office, but also Harris County election officials for their long history of impeding minority voter registration and voting.
We believe the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector should be investigated thoroughly for their many years of wrongful registration denials and delays as well as their incompetent processing of registration applicants. We also are seeking an investigation that the Justice Department look at the apparent politicization of the Harris County Clerk’s election administration.
As for the Texas Attorney General’s Office (AG), our letter points out that the AG falsely accused Houston Votes of “voter fraud” and effectively shut down our voter registration drive in 2010. The AG’s theory was that our voter registration drive was engaged in felony identity fraud, for simply keeping records of the people we registered to ensure that County authorities properly registered them and so that we could remind them to vote. No wonder after raiding us with six officers with guns and flak jackets, and investigating for 11 months, the AG dropped their oppressive investigation without ever notifying us. Under its absurd theory, every voter registration and turnout drive in the country would be a criminal enterprise.
Even after the original story was uncovered by the Dallas Morning News, no one had heard directly from those formerly with Houston Votes, and the whole issue never went any further than the original report (and a dedicated circle of bloggers, of course).  Off the Kuff, Neil Aquino and Dos Centavos were actively covering the Houston Votes saga when the first allegations were waged in 2010.

The whole reason for Abbott’s illegal, oppressive raid of Houston Votes in the first place?  Lies from the King Street Patriots, a Houston-area TEA Party group that also spawned True the Vote in 2012.  They claimed that Houston Votes had falsified thousands of voter registration documents.  After a lot of drama staged by True the Vote, no evidence was actually found, but Abbott and his TEA minions got what they wanted anyway… to silence minority voices in Harris County.

This needs to be a national story, and soon.  But for the moment, the best thing you can do is share posts like this one and let people know what’s going on.
Texas Politics

Texoblogosphere: Week of July 6th

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The Texas Progressive Alliance has been driving around asking about incendiary chemicals as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff reports on the petitions turned in by opponents of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance to require a repeal referendum on the ballot in November, and the determination of the ordinance’s backers to defend it against such efforts.

Libby Shaw at Texas Kaos is sick and disgusted to report another chemical explosion like that in West, TX last year is a strong possibility. Why? Because Greg Abbott has a Koch problem. Greg Abbott has a Koch problem. Why Texas residents are essentially powerless.

WCNews at Eye on Williamson shows that Greg Abbott’s chemical problems makes clear that the, GOP In Texas Is Corporate-Owned.

While PDiddie at Brains and Eggs finds a great deal to be enthusiastic about in recent developments for the Blue team’s chances in November, it’s not all peaches and cream for Texas Democrats.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme knows Greg Abbott loves profits for his cronies over worker safety and Blake Farenthold loves cronies so much he’s eased up a tensy bit on the usual republican Hispanic bashing. It’s oligarchy first for the GOP.

The Supreme Court ruling giving Hobby Lobby the right to deny contraception health services was a surprise to many Americans. But given how ecstatic Greg Abbott was about the decision, Texas Leftist is left to wonder just what surprises he’d have if elected Governor. Would Abbott try to ban birth control in Texas??

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Paul Kennedy and many other defense attorneys in Harris County protested the actions of a criminal court judge that was “encouraging” defendants to do their business before him without being represented by a lawyer.

Texas Election Law Blog analyzes True The Vote’s ability to intervene in the Thad Cochran/Chris McDaniel election dispute.

Texas Clean Air Matters celebrates the recent SCOTUS ruling that confirmed the EPA’s authority to address climate pollution.

Greg Wythe shows us what signing in on Election Day may look like in the near future.

SciGuy reassures us that we are not likely to be eaten by a shark.

The Bloggess researched fireworks options so you don’t have to.

And finally, Lowering the Bar isn’t a Texas blog, but as a legal humor blog targeting Greg Abbott for his pathetic performance in the redistricting legal fee dispute with Wendy Davis, they’re welcome to be in this week’s review.