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Election Reform Organizations in Texas

Critical Races to Watch

(D) Democrat (R) Republican
(G) Green (IN) Independent
(L) Libertarian (I) Incumbent

House

TX17	Chet Edwards (D)(I)	Van Taylor (R)	Guillermo Acosta (L)
TX22	Nick Lampson (D)	Tom DeLay (R) resigned	Shelley Sekula-Gibbs (R)
TX22	Don Richardson (R)	Bob Smither (L)	Joe Reasbeck

Senate

	Barbara Ann Radnofsky (D)	Kay Hutchison (R)(I)
	Scott Jameson (L)	Amanda Ulman

Governor

Chris Bell (D)	Rick Perry (R)(I)	James Werner (L)
Richard Friedman (IN)	Carole Strayhorn (IN)	Jose Aravena
James Dillon

Call to Action!!!!!
Provisional Ballots
Introduced by federal law in 2002 as part of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), the provisional ballot was designed for voters whose registration was in question. Initially proposed by the Congressional Black Caucus, it was to save the rights of those wrongly purged from voter rolls.

HAVA provisional ballot law allows election officials to give provisional ballots to any persons who:

show up at the polls on Election Day but find that, for whatever reason, their names are not on the voter rolls; or
have their right to vote challenged by an election official. (Note: In many locations it’s not just election officials, but also partisan observers who challenge voters).

Unlike regular ballots, provisional ballots are not required under HAVA to be counted. Rather, the decision whether or not to count provisional ballots is determined by the 50 individual Secretaries of State. Across the nation, large numbers of provisional ballots have been systematically rejected. During the 2004 election, a total of 3,107,490 voters were moved into provisional ballots. The number of ballots rejected was a stunning 1,090,729.

ACTION: Check with www.CanIVote.org to see if you are registered. They also need to ensure their ID matches the voter registration name exactly. Voters can be challenged over minor things, such as a middle initial on their ID while the voter roll has a full middle name listed. Next, check to be sure your polling place has not moved.

New Voter Identification Laws
Many states have passed laws that require citizens to provide a photo identification piece proving that they are indeed citizens. A driver’s license and a birth certificate are inadequate because the former doesn’t prove citizenship and the latter doesn’t provide a photo. A passport does qualify. As the state supreme courts review these new laws, many have already been struck down as unconstitutional because they are barriers to voting.

ACTION: All citizens should check with their Secretary of State’s office to find out what the current requirements are. If a photo ID is required, a protest should be lodged as to the unconstitutionality of the law.

Join the Transparency Project
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6389

Election News

For a daily update of election news in your state go to this link and scroll down (news articles are listed alphabetically by state).