Tweet

Stacey Abrams

14 May, 14 tweets, 5 min read

TEXAS: Your voices are making a difference. Last night, many anti-voter bills failed, proving the power of collective advocacy to protect our freedom to vote, but we must keep speaking out to defend voting rights. Read below what you stopped and how to keep fighting: #txlege

HB 3080, which would have created a misdemeanor offense for any person to send a mail ballot application to a person who did not first request one and would have enacted a process of thumbprint verification for mail ballots. #txlege

HB 3281, which would have required ballots returned by mail to be postmarked by the fourth day before Election Day and received by 5pm the day before Election Day. The bill would also have reduced the time to apply for a mail ballot. #txlege

HB 1725, which would have banned drop boxes entirely, by explicitly prohibiting the return of mail ballots to unattended receptacles other than a mailbox or common carrier receptacle. #txlege

HB 3970, which would have shifted the burden of proof for signature verification of mail ballots to presume that signatures do not match. This provision could have sharply increased ballot rejections. #txlege

HB 3269, which would have allowed only voters who returned their unvoted mail ballot to vote using a regular ballot at a polling location. The bill would have required voters who applied for ballots but voted in person for other reasons to vote using a provisional ballot. #txlege

HB 330, which would have limited mail voting for those living in residential facilities by requiring them to complete ballots in the presence of election workers at the facility. It also would have limited voters' ability to choose someone to help them complete a ballot. #txlege

HB 2546, which would have created an escalating set of training, audits, and criminal penalties for clerks and registrars who the Secretary of State deemed non-compliant with voter list maintenance requirements, including adding a state jail felony for election officials. #txlege

HB 329, which would have encouraged criminal investigations of voters with questioned citizenship statuses and voters who have shown a reasonable impediment to obtaining a photo ID. #txlege

HB 2320, which would have created a state jail felony for any person other than the voter or their assistant if they pre-filled the disability reason for mail ballot voting on a ballot application. #txlege

HB 3297, which would have created several new election-related criminal offenses and raised the severity of many existing election-related criminal offenses to felonies. #txlege

HB 4459, which would have created a state jail felony for any election official who arranged a ballot in a way that would allow a voter to vote for all candidates belonging to the same party in a single gesture or motion. #txlege

HB 4507, which would have forced voters to register separately for federal and state/local elections, and would have held elections for federal offices and other offices on separate days. #txlege

The defeat of these bills does not mean the fight is over, but it is important evidence of the impact of voter advocacy and grassroots pressure. Texans: keep speaking out against remaining anti-voter bills like SB 7—go to StopJimCrow2.com to take action today. #txlege

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More from @staceyabrams

Stacey Abrams

@staceyabrams

11 May

@DougDucey

Less than an hour after its passage by the Arizona State Senate, Governor @DougDucey rushed to sign SB 1485, a devastating anti-voter bill which could remove over 125,000 voters--more than 30,000 of whom are Latino--from Arizona’s highly popular Permanent Early Voting List. (1/6)

The newly-signed #SB1485 is one of over 400 proposed anti-voter bills across the country stemming from an election cycle with historical turnout of Black, brown, and young voters. (2/6)

These actions are a direct and wide-ranging assault on democracy that spans across 48 states from Arizona to New Hampshire, and from Michigan to Texas to Georgia, and demands a response from all stakeholders in America. Silence cannot be an option. (3/6)

Read 6 tweets

Stacey Abrams

@staceyabrams

26 Apr

TEXAS: Your voices are slowing the anti-voter omnibus bills HB 6 and SB 7, but we must not forget other bills with the same harmful provisions. One example: the TX House Elections Committee passed HB 4322, which would ban drive-thru voting. #txlege courthousenews.com/texas-gop-bill…

To make sure Texans' right to vote is protected, we must fight ALL of these anti-voter bills—like SB 1340, which would make the Secretary of State, not local officials, responsible for voter registration and holding hearings on challenges and registration cancellations. #txlege

HB 4364 grants poll watchers free movement throughout polling locations, increasing voter intimidation risks, and creates a class A misdemeanor for polling place officials who refuse to accept a poll watcher. #txlege

Read 11 tweets

Stacey Abrams

@staceyabrams

8 Apr

Today the TX GOP advanced the egregious #HB6 out of committee. It won't just restrict voter access, it will criminalize voting with harsh penalties. Voters and business leaders must speak up while there is time to stop it from becoming law: StopJimCrow2.com #txlege (1/4)

Texas is facing a host of dangerous anti-voting bills that undermine democracy and voting access; one goes as far as requiring a voter's thumbprint. (2/4)

#HB6 would criminalize voting, push voting violations to the same sentencing range as murder, weaponize fears of prosecution, ban election officials from proactively sending ballot applications—burdening seniors, rural voters, voters with disabilities—and more. #txlege (3/4)

Read 4 tweets

Stacey Abrams

@staceyabrams

25 Mar

#SB202 suppresses voters, criminalizes compassion & seizes election authority from local + state officials. In 11 years, I never witnessed a massive bill approved at such speed and signed in such desperation. This wasn’t efficiency or principle. This is cowardice. #gapol
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Georgia Republicans want to hide their shameful actions from public scrutiny. It’s Jim Crow in a suit + tie: cutting off access, adding restrictions, encouraging more “show me your papers” actions to challenge a citizen’s right to vote. Facially neutral but racially targeted. 2/

GOP legislators gave themselves the right to takeover local elections & throw out results - what they tried and failed to do in MI. They raised costs for taxpayers and forbid counties from accepting funds to cover the bill. They criminalize free water & food for those in line. 3/

Read 4 tweets

Stacey Abrams

@staceyabrams

8 Mar

This week, there is a coordinated attack on voting rights. GOP-led legislatures in GA, AZ & NH are pushing dozens of bills to make it harder for people of color & young people to vote. We voted in Nov & instead of listening, they are trying to shut us out of the process. 1/18

In GA, SB 241 would end no-excuse vote-by-mail (VBM), risk identity theft of voters + allow the legislature to steal power from state & local election officials. It's one of the worst VBM bills in the nation & part of the largest push to restrict voting rights since Jim Crow.

GA HB 531 is a direct attack on our communities of faith. It would limit weekend voting, curtailing Souls to the Polls and may create an impossible position for Jewish Georgians who celebrate the Sabbath and vote on Sundays.

Read 19 tweets

Stacey Abrams

@staceyabrams

8 Jan

Nine weeks of hustle & outreach. Nine weeks of believing we are in this together. Decades of strategy, grit + building. Wednesday’s terrorism seeks to distract us from what has been & what will be. So let’s take today to celebrate the orgs that brought us Tuesday’s victory:
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