ACT NOW THROUGH FRIDAY, MARCH 26

Important: The House Elections Committee has a hearing on HB 6 on Thursday, March 25. The Senate Public Affairs Committee has a hearing on SB 7 on Friday, March 26. The House will accept in-person or written comments on HB 6, but the Senate is only allowing in-person testimony on SB 7.

ISSUE

House Bill 6 and Senate Bill 7 are anti-democratic, anti-voter assaults on the right to vote. These bills:

  • strip voter rights
  • financially burden local governments
  • discourage poll workers
  • elevate partisan poll watcher power above election official authority
  • ban drive-through and outdoor voting
  • restrict voters from dropping off completed absentee ballots
  • shrink early voting periods
  • create new costs for disabled voters
  • increase burdens on voters with disabilities to access assistance at the polls

CONTACT THE COMMITTEES AND YOUR REPS

Call or write members of the Texas House Committee on Elections, the Senate Committee on State Affairs (see contact info below), and your own representative and senator. Tell them that you oppose these bills.

Also ask that the Senate hearing on SB 7 be opened to online written and video testimony.

You can say/write:

Dear {Representative/Senator} _______. My name is _________ and my zip code is _______. I oppose {HB 6/SB 7}. This bill would make voting harder for everyone, but especially disabled and disadvantaged voters. It will increase election costs for counties and make it almost impossible to attract election judges and clerks. {HB 6/SB 7} would create more problems than it solves and the authors have not even presented facts that prove such changes are needed.

[For Senate only, you can add this paragraph]
Also, I am appalled that the Senate committee hearing will only be accepting in-person testimony. I ask that the hearing include video and online written comments from the public. This is the most dramatic change in voting law since the Jim Crow era and this bill must be debated in the most public way possible.

Thank you for taking action on my request.

Sign the Progress Texas Petition:
Demand Republicans End Their Attack on Our Voting Rights

Find who represents you here. Then find the contact info for your state representative here and your senator here.

If you can be at the Capitol in Austin to provide in-person testimony, see the link to register for the House hearing, and info about testifying in the Senate, below.

HB 6 INFO

SB 7 INFO

To testify before a Texas Senate Committee, enter the north side entrance (the UT side) and go to the tents area to get a COVID test (takes about 15 minutes). You don’t have to get a test if you have proof (the CDC card or a picture of it on your phone) that you are fully vaccinated. Negative test gives you a wrist band for admittance to the Senate chambers and committee rooms. The hearing room for SB 7 is Capitol Extension Auditorium, E1.004. At the table outside the hearing room, fill out a registration card with your name, the bill number, whom you are representing, your position on the bill, and if you are giving written or oral testimony. If the room is crowded, you might be asked to wait outside. Be alert to hearing your name called to testify!

House Committee on Elections

  • Chair: Brisco Cain, 512-463-0733
  • Vice-Chair: Jessica González, 512- 463-0408
  • Member: Michelle Beckley, 512-463-0478
  • Member: John Bucy III, 512-463-0696
  • Member: Travis Clardy, 512-463-0592
  • Member: Art Fierro, 512-463-0596
  • Member: Jacey Jetton, 512-463-0710
  • Member: Mike Schofield, 512-463-0528
  • Member: Valoree Swanson, 512-463-0572
  • Clerk: 512-463-0772

Senate Committee on State Affairs

  • Chair: Bryan Hughes, 512-463-0101
  • Vice-chair: Brian Birdwell, 512-463-0122
  • Member: Donna Campbell, 512-463-0125
  • Member: Bob Hall, 512-463-0102
  • Member: Eddie Lucio, 512-463-0127
  • Member: Jane Nelson, 512-463-0112
  • Member: Beverly Powell, 512-463-0110
  • Member: Charles Schwertner, 512-463-0105
  • Member: Judith Zaffirini, 512-463-0121

FOR MORE

A Few Messaging Don’ts (from MOVE Texas)

  • DO NOT: It is NOT helpful to repeat the GOP’s messaging about “double voting” and “voter fraud.” Even using phrases gives credence to their tactics and messaging. 
  • Do Not Turn Disinformation Into Debate: Do not buy into any frame that turns disinformation into a key topic of debate. We cede important ground if the idea of postponing the election feels like a real debate–as opposed to a blatantly anti-democratic action. 
  • Do Not Reinforce Voter Fraud Concerns: Recent research from Reuters/IPSOS shows 74% of voters – including 7/10 Democrats – have concerns about organized voter fraud. Do NOT Retweet–even to debunk!