The following message is from Aaron Harris, Executive Director, Direct Action Texas:
On August 16th, Direct Action Texas and Grassroots America held a joint press conference in which we announced a Texas Conservative Grassroots Coalition letter to Gov. Abbott asking him to direct the Secretary of State to begin verifying the citizenship of registered voters in Texas.
We asked the Governor to do this because 1) the Texas Secretary of State is appointed by the Governor, 2) the Governor has the constitutional executive authority to mandate citizenship verification of registered voters, and 3) Governor Abbott has strongly supported Coalition efforts to pass election integrity and ballot security reforms. In fact, upon signing Senate Bill 5 (increased penalties for people who commit election crimes related to mail-in ballots), Governor Abbott issued a statement declaring, “It is a primary function of government to protect citizens’ right to vote, and I will not allow the integrity of the ballot box to be compromised in Texas.”
In the press conference, I released figures that have understandably garnered quite a bit of attention and caused heartburn for some government officials. Many questions are circling; I’m going to address several of those now. Some will be better answered at a future time and place, after we’ve completed necessary follow-up work.
We can agree that government suffers from a disease of inaction. Even with the best of intentions, important projects simply die in government, especially those that are political hot potatoes – like election integrity. This is simply a political reality.
For nearly a year, the Texas Attorney General has had information about the problems with Texas’ voter rolls, and this project has simply stalled. In January, in discussions with multiple senior level staffers in the AG’s office, I predicted they would get nowhere by mid-year in 2018 and promised that – if they did nothing – I would go public in July or August. As I had originally feared, the project has stalled. Last week I followed through on my promise to release the information.
It is important for us to remember that we aren’t talking about stalling on a minor issue. Since my discussions with high level Texas AG staffers about non-citizens being registered to vote in Texas, the March 2018 Primary Election happened. The May 22 Primary runoff election happened, and the May 2018 local municipal, school board, and bond elections took place, not to mention other local runoffs and special elections. Now, in just a few months, we’ll have the November 2018 General Election. How does this not rise to the level of a priority as election after election goes by?
In 2017, government analysts compared Texas’ voter rolls against the Department of Public Safety (DPS) database. Most Texans don’t realize the Secretary of State (SoS) checks the DPS database every time they register a voter. This is done in accordance with federal statute.
They verify the applicant’s name, address, and date of birth. DPS has citizenship information, but the SoS does NOT verify that status, even though it is illegal for non-citizens to vote!
In checking the voter rolls against the DPS citizenship status, the analysts found 280,000 registered voters who – at the time they were issued a DPS ID – were not citizens. Again, non-citizens are illegible to register and to vote.
Some of these were registered to vote when they got their ID (motor voter), and some were registered to vote at a later date. Some of these likely became naturalized citizens since they obtained their DPS ID, but surely not all of them. The fact is – we simply do not know.
Texans deserve to know.
There are over 21.5 million DPS-issued IDs in Texas. There are 14 million registered voters.Of the 14 million registered voters, more than 4 million of them do not match up to anyone in DPS’s database or other databases available to the analysts.
I’m excited to share some good news with all of our Grassroots America members and supporters and to say to my colleagues in the Texas Conservative Grassroots Coalition, “Well done!”
On July 17 as we were about to start the legislature’s special session, the Coalition sent a powerful letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton thanking him for efforts he had made to stand against voter fraud and asking him to look into issues regarding the constitutionality of voting machines in use in Texas. [See the Coalition letter here.]
The Texas Constitution is very clear. Article VI, Sec. 4 reads: “in all elections by the people, the vote shall be by ballot, and the Legislature shall provide for the numbering of tickets and make such other regulations as may be necessary to detect and punish fraud and preserve the purity of the ballot box.” This simply means that every ballot must be numbered.
The problem? Some voting machines currently in use in Texas, and new ones available for sale (using our tax dollars), specifically DRE machines, DO NOT number ballots. In fact, many simply are not capable of sequentially numbered paper trail back ups, but rather only “cast vote records”.
Election integrity and ballot security are not trite political matters. We simply must stand against operatives in both the Democratic and Republican parties and vendors who may try to stand in the way of cleaning up this big voter fraud mess in Texas.
After what happened during the regular session, it is clear that we have Republican obstructionists in the legislature who will do whatever it takes to thwart election integrity reforms. So, for the operatives and shills for the vendors who read this, let mebe clear. There will be no compromise and no acceptance of excuses for a situation in which the Secretary of State’s Office seemingly has rogue employees who can just ignore the state constitution and all controlling legal authorities.
Since I’m not used to asking permission to do the right thing, there will be NO retreat. Period. It matters not to me if folks post tacky little remarks on social media and get all spun up about the issues being raised by the two folks I consider to be subject matter experts on ballot security and election integrity. In fact, the more push back we get, the more determined we are!
Aaron Harris, Executive Director of Direct Action Texas, worked his heart out during the special session to get improvements in mail-in ballot security. He was successful. Aaron has four criminal cases on voter fraud, and this bulldog is just getting warmed up.
Dr. Laura Pressley, Save our Texas Vote, continues to tear up and down the highways of Texas, speaking to any group that will listen about the deficiencies in our election processes and the lack of transparency and accountability in how elections are carried out. She has bled for this and deserves respect.
As a result of the Coalition’s letter to General Paxton, we had a meeting with the AG’s Office in August. I am confident the Attorney General understands our concerns and has reviewed all of the evidence brought forward.
Now, Laura has some great news. Please share this with your friends and organizations.
The Austin Swamp-draining conservative grassroots army we are building is growing! We also have Coalition projects aimed at the DC Swamp. Since January, we have launched 29 Coalition projects that have drawn both state and national attention. Our support is in demand at the Capitol during the Special Session, which began yesterday.
We are working will fellow coalition-builders Teresa Beckmeyer (Lone Star Voice), Dale and Mary Huls (Clear Lake TEA Party), Toni and Tom Fabry (Frisco TEA Party) and Ray Myers (Kaufman County TEA Party) to hold quarterly Grassroots Leadership Summits that encourage unity around conservative principles and team-building among like-minded activist leaders. The following information about Grassroots America’s statewide coalition-building project will help you understand HOW and WHY this is working!
The Coalition is about conservative, limited government principles – not personalities. It is about supporting the Texas GOP Platform as long as it is a constitutionally conservative platform.
This Coalition has been wildly successful at the Capitol, and the Coalition has grown 78% since we began activities in January. We will continue to hold quarterly Coalition meetings that are meaningful.
Partners continue to operate asindependentgroups, but when necessary, act as a strong coalition,united around first principles. This is not a substitute for any local group’s work, nor is it intended to replace local efforts.
Partners include local TEA party/conservative groups, statewide conservative groups, SRECs, GOP county chairs, GOP precinct chairs, GOP club leaders, and professional associations (such as the Texas Association of Physicians & Surgeons) who agree on a particular issue.
It’s about helping even the smallest conservative local group be successful and make their voices heard.
It’s about adding value to groups that don’t have the resources to take on big projects.
It’s about building an enduring Texas conservative grassroots movement in every Senate District (which also covers the State House Districts).
It’s about raising a higher standard for both elected officials and for Texas grassroots activists.
It is about framing the debate and being on offense, rather than playing defense and being reactionary.
It is about passing good conservative reform bills and killing bad bills in spite of a rogue Speaker and the Austin Cartel, because there will always be a liberal, big government Republican in power somewhere. That is the nature of unprincipled men and women.
Grassroots training will be important. Long term, we will prevail by working smarter and upholding principles over political expediency.
The Coalition will not vet candidates. That is the responsibility of local groups.
The Coalition will not endorse candidates because we are not a PAC.
There are no Coalition membership dues or fundraising. Our database will not be shared or sold.
Participation does not require a groups allegiance to every issue.
The Coalition is fluid because it is based on issues.If your group agrees with a stated position, they sign on. If your group doesn’t agree, don’t sign. Individuals signing on for a Group/Organization do so with that Group’s/Organization’s agreement and approval – implied or explicit.
When a coalition partner signs on to a letter or statement, they do so knowing full well that the author of the letter or statement will NOT equivocate or back down should the heat get too hot for any coalition partner.
Letters and statements will be based on sourced facts and first principles. If the Coalition project inflames the media, local/Austin/DC Cartels, the establishment GOP, an elected official, the Left, or the Tooth Fairy, there will be NO retreat, so Coalition partners should not ask for one. Partners assumepersonal responsibility when they sign on.
This Coalition is not in competition with anybody. It is a unique effort with a heart to serve and to build a stronger, more principled Texas grassroots movement that will keep Texas free.
If the leaders of your TEA party, GOP Club, your SREC, your GOP County Chairman, your GOP Precinct Chair, or other constitutional conservative group leaders are not a part of the Coalition, have your leadership contact us atgrassrootsleadership@gawtp.com.
JoAnn Fleming, Teresa Beckmeyer, Toni & Tom Fabry, Mary & Dale Huls, Bill Hussey, Ray Myers
