CAMERON AMONG 4 COUNTIES SUED FOR VOTER REPRESSION

Special to El-Rrun-Run

A nationwide voter registration and Get Out The Vote non-profit – Vote.org – has sued four county registrars – Cameron County's Remi Garza among them them – and asked a federal judge for declaratory and injunctive relief.

The case was filed in the Western District of Texas in San Antonio July 8 and names as defendants Defendants Jaquelyn Callanen, in her official capacity as the Bexar County Elections Administrator, Bruce Elfant in his official capacity as the Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector, Remi Garza in his official capacity as the Cameron County Elections Administrator, and Michael Scarpello in his official capacity as the Dallas County Elections Administrator.

An item in the executive session agenda requests that the county provide authority for ther court's legal counsel to provide Garza's legal representation to defend him in the lawsuit.

Among some of the issues raised by Vote.org are state's requirements to register to vote, which it alleges is a cumbersome process, "and intentionally so. Despite a concerted effort to modernize election procedures, when it comes to voter registration – and, for that matter, other procedures that expand access to the franchise – Texas continues to embrace and reinforce antiquated rules that serve no purpose other than to make voting harder. 

"For instance, Texas does not provide online registration, and for years then-Secretary of State (Roland Pablos) ignored federal laws that require the state to allow voters to simultaneously update their driver’s licenses and voter registration information."

Vote.org also challenges yet another rule – the so-called Wet Signature Rule  which it calls an "outdated and unlawful voter registration rule. Under Texas law, voters must sign their registration applications with original, wet signatures – a perplexing requirement given that the method by which a voter enters their signature has absolutely nothing to do with their eligibility to register."

The lawsuit charges that in 2018, this "antiquated rule" resulted in the rejection of voter registration applications signed using a web application developed by Vote.org, simply because the applications were signed with imaged rather than wet signatures. Indeed, five days before the voter registration deadline for the 2018 midterm election, SOS Pablos instructed county registrars to reject all registration applications prepared using the e-signature function of the plaintiff’s web application, claiming that the registration applications were incomplete because they lacked original, wet signatures.

During the 2021 legislative session – mere months after Texas officials sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and disenfranchise millions of voters in other states, and on the heels of an election that the state’s elections administrators described as safe and secure—the Texas Legislature codified the Wet Signature Rule through House Bill 3107 (“HB 3107”). 

In other words, charges the lawsuit, a voter cannot complete their registration form electronically, nor can they use an imaged signature; instead, the voter must provide a copy of their registration application with a wet-ink signature affixed.

Vote.org alleges that it contradicts the state’s longstanding recognition that electronic signatures carry the force of law and is irreconcilable with the state’s ongoing practice of accepting electronic or imaged signatures on voter registration applications submitted through state agencies.

For example, voters who renew their licenses or change their addresses through the Texas Department of Public Safety (“DPS”) can enter their signatures on electronic keypads; these signatures are then stored electronically, allowing DPS officials to piece together a voter registration application by combining the personal information populated on the renewal or change of address form with the voter’s signature from the electronic file. This information, once compiled, becomes the voter’s registration application and is approved if the applicant meets the eligibility requirements.

Thus, Vote.org alleges, even with the Wet Signature Rule enshrined in the Texas Election Code, thousands of Texans will continue to register at state agencies with imaged or electronic signatures, which undermines any suggestion that the Wet Signature Rule is somehow essential to protecting election integrity.

"The ability to complete and sign registration applications electronically is critical to ensure that voters with limited access to printers or mailing facilities, or who otherwise need assistance to register to vote, have meaningful opportunities to do so. 

"The Wet Signature Rule imposes unnecessary roadblocks that are not only hopelessly out of step with other provisions of Texas law, but also create undue burdens for voters and the organizations that help them register, all while failing to advance any sufficiently weighty state interest that could justify such restrictions.

The Wet Signature Rule violates the U.S. Constitution and the federal Civil Rights Act by selectively targeting and burdening private organizations’ efforts to increase voter turnout, and by imposing an arbitrary barrier to registration that has already denied many Texans the opportunity to vote for reasons entirely unrelated to their eligibility," t he lawsuit states. 

"For these reasons and those stated below, Plaintiff requests that the Court declare that the Wet Signature Rule violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. constitution, and enjoin defendants from enforcing the Wet Signature Rule."