It's no secret that Republicans do not want everyone to vote. If that happens, the GOP will not survive. Gov. Greg Abbott, who is disabled, vetoed a bipartisan bill to expand vote-by-mail access for people with disabilities. The bipartisan bill would specifically help people who are blind or paralyzed and need assistance in marking their ballots. Abbott is paralyzed from the waist down.
Via The Texas Tribune:
Advocates say Abbott's veto of House Bill 3159 is a blow for voters with disabilities who have for years called for the Legislature to grant them a way to mark their mail-in ballots without having to rely on anyone else.
Co-authored by state Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, and state Rep. John H. Bucy III, D-Austin, the bill would have allowed voters who need help casting a ballot, such as people who are visually impaired or are paralyzed, to do so "privately and securely" by requesting an electronic ballot and using a computer to mark their choices. The bill still would have required those voters to print out, sign and return their ballots by mail.
Similar bills had been filed since 2019 without success. This was the first time a bill of its kind made it to the governor's desk.
In a resolution explaining his veto Saturday, Abbott called the intent of the bill "laudable" but said the bill does not limit the use of an electronic and accessible ballot by mail only to voters with disabilities. He says the bill would allow "any voter who qualifies to vote by mail to receive a ballot electronically."
But some policy experts and voting rights advocates say Abbott is incorrect.
The bill requires voters who want to vote by mail using the electronically delivered accessible ballot to affirm they "have a sickness or physical condition preventing them from appearing at the polling place on election day without a likelihood of needing personal assistance or injuring [their] health."
If you don't want everyone to be able to vote, you shouldn't serve as an elected official. When younger voters came out in force for Joe Biden, in a predictable move, calls came out from the right to raise the voting age.
