Republicans know they have to cheat in order to win elections. And let's face it when it comes to lying, cheating, and stealing Republicans are well practiced.
But in the current Texas environment they need to do more than keep Black, Brown, and poor people from voting. Making one or two voter booths available for 100,000 people just won't be enough this time. So what to do when gerrymandering and throwing away votes you don't like isn't enough?
You make the voters have id's that match. Even though the state mandated that women have their maiden name as their middle name on their id. You insist that since that isn't their real middle name. And bingo- no vote for you.
Never mind that these id's were just fine last election. Or that pesky state mandate that women put the wrong middle name on their id.
Provisional ballots for any voter that doesn't manage the intentionally Byzantine rules.
A Texas district judge who has been voting for the past five decades was almost barred from the polls Tuesday, thanks to the state’s newly implemented, stricter voter ID law. The law kicked in on Tuesday as early voting in Texas’ November 5 election began.
As she told local channel Kiii News, 117th District Court Judge Sandra Watts was flagged for possible voter fraud because her driver’s license lists her maiden name as her middle name, while her voter registration form has her real middle name. This was the first time she has ever had a problem voting in 49 years. “What I have used for voter registration and for identification for the last 52 years was not sufficient yesterday when I went to vote,” she said.
Watts worried that women who use maiden names or hyphenated names may be surprised at the polls. “I don’t think most women know that this is going to create a problem,” the judge said. “That their maiden name is on their driver’s license, which was mandated in 1964 when I got married, and this. And so why would I want to use a provisional ballot when I’ve been voting regular ballot for the last 49 years?”
Is that freedom I smell?