Texans wanted to speak on a bill they fear will suppress votes. They never got a chance
More than 100 people wanted to testify on a bill Thursday that opponents say would suppress voters, but the hearing abruptly ended before they were given the chance to address lawmakers.
Fort Worth Rep. Nicole Collier, a Democrat who chairs the Legislative Black Caucus, also wanted to question the bill’s author, Republican Rep. Briscoe Cain of Deer Park, but Cain blocked her attempt. There are no Black members on the committee.
“I wanted to make sure that there was a member of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus that would be able to ask questions to the witnesses and the bill author about the impact that this bill has on our community,” Collier said.
She added, “Texas has a history of disenfranchising people of color, Black and brown people, and this bill is another method to do that.”
The House Elections Committee took up House Bill 6, which includes measures that would make it a crime for a public official to give an application to vote by mail to a person who didn’t request one and that would limit the ability for a presiding judge at a polling place to remove a poll watcher. Voting rights advocates believe the legislation would make it harder to vote by mail and could lead to voter intimidation by poll watchers.
The bill’s intent is to “reduce the likelihood of fraud in the conduct of elections,” but experts have said there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Gov. Greg Abbott has acknowledged that he is not aware of any election outcomes being altered in 2020 due to fraud.
“When people do not have confidence in our electoral institutions, when political legitimacy is questioned, Liberty is threatened,” Cain said. “Therefore it is incumbent upon the Texas Legislature this session to ensure that elections, the bedrock of our republic, are free, fair and secure.”
Texas Elections hearing ends without public input
The hearing was expected to be lengthy, with people from across the state set to testify, including former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke of El Paso.
But before members of the public could take the stand, the hearing was cut short because of a procedural mishap that happened when the committee broke for lunch without setting a time to return.
Cain called for an afternoon break as lawmakers on the committee questioned him about the bill. Cain is the committee’s chair, but Vice Chair Jessica González, D-Dallas, was acting in his place because he is the bill’s author.
González tried to recognize Collier but Cain cut in.
“At this time, we are coming up on lunch guys, so …. we’re going to take a short recess and come back,” Cain said.
González repeated that she, acting as chair, was recognizing Collier for questions. Cain said he was reassuming his role as chair. He said the committee could recess or start hearing from witnesses.
“It has been the practice of the committee to hear from members of this committee, to allow members of this committee to ask questions of the witness or the bill author, but no one else,” Cain said, before the committee eventually broke for lunch.
When lawmakers returned, Cain announced that the hearing was ending due to the parliamentary mishap.
“After consulting the parliamentarian’s office, the chair realized that the chair failed to recess to a time certain for reconvening, therefore pursuant to the rules, today’s hearing has concluded. This means that even though I wish very much so to continue today’s hearing, the rule prevents me from doing so. Please forgive me for my error.”
Cain said the bill would soon be posted for another hearing. A similar bill in the Senate, Senate Bill 7, is set for a hearing Friday in the State Affairs Committee.
Cain’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Democrats, voters respond to House Bill 6
Collier said she’d sent a letter to Cain from the Legislative Black Caucus requesting that she be allowed to have a voice on the committee.
“It is the custom of this House to allow other members, even if they’re not on the committee, to be able to ask questions of witnesses and the bill author,” Collier said during a news conference at the Texas Capitol after the hearing.
A joint letter from the caucus and the Mexican American Legislative Caucus requests representatives from the groups be allowed to fully participate in the hearing. It also asks that virtual testimony be allowed to increase participation for voters with disabilities, those over 65 and Black and Latino voters.
“We are deeply concerned with provisions included in House Bill 6 that would limit Texans’ constitutional voting rights, unduly limit access to the voting polls, and create extensive criminal offenses and penalties,” the letter reads.
Collier said she saw the denial to ask questions during the hearing as an “extension of the Republican effort to quiet our voices.”
State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, an Austin Democrat who is the policy chair for the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, said he was in the front row of the committee room during the hearing and had planned to ask questions after Collier.
“I think it’s evident that we’re not going to take this lying down as the two minority caucuses,” Rodriguez said.
It’s unclear when the bill will be heard again. O’Rourke, among those who traveled to Austin for the hearing, said he’ll likely stick around to testify on Senate Bill 7 on Friday.
Jeffrey Clemmons, a student at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin and president of the school’s NAACP chapter, missed class to voice his opposition House Bill 6.
“The bill does so much to make it harder for people to vote, disincentivizes people from wanting to actually participate in the elections, which is bad for communities of color, for college students like myself and pretty much everyone else in the state of Texas,” said Clemmons, who is from Rockwall.
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 6:05 PM.
