AAPI groups join lawsuit vs. Texas voter suppression law

Texas lawmaker Gene Wu was one of the Democrats who went to Washington.

Asian Americans have joined a lawsuit challenging measure restricting voting in Texas.

“By law, the citizens of Texas all have the same right to vote, regardless of race or disability. But with S.B. 1, the legislature is undermining equal access to the ballot box,” said Sean Morales-Doyle of the Brennan Center for Justice, one of the groups behind the lawsuit. “The myriad restrictions in their legislation will be felt most by Latino, Black, and Asian American voters, voters with disabilities, and elderly voters.”

“Texas has a history of violating Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act – we will continue to fight when Texas tries to limit the federal rights of limited English speaking voters to get the language assistance they need," said Deborah Chen, Civic Engagement Programs Director with Organization of Chinese Associations - Greater Houston. 

"The SB1 restrictions needlessly erect barriers for Immigrant, limited English proficient, seniors, and working class Asian American Pacific Islander citizens to exercise their right to vote, and go against the principle of equitable access,” 

The lawsuit filed Friday was brought on behalf of the OCA of Greater Houston. League of Women Voters of Texas, the Texas Organizing Project, Workers Defense Action Fund, Register, Educate and Vote, & Use your Power - Texas (REV UP Texas).

In their lawsuit — filed by co-counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Disability Rights Texas, the Texas Civil Rights Project and the law firm of Jenner & Block LLP, — these organizations argue that numerous provisions of the bill violate the Voting Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the U.S. Constitution.

The legislation makes it virtually impossible for members of the plaintiff organizations to vote, especially those who are more comfortable with languages other than English, those with disabilities, and who have no option but to vote by mail. SB 1 is opposed by diverse groups of Texans — from business executives, faith leaders, community organizers, local elected officials and countless everyday Texans — including those represented by MOVE Texas, Common Cause Texas, Texas Freedom Network, AFL-CIO Texas, Black Voters Matter and Jolt Texas.

Recent non-partisan polling shows most voters, regardless of political party, believe that all Texans should have equal access to the ballot box. SB 1 would not only make voting harder for all Texans, it threatens to harm communities of color and Texans with disabilities the most.

SB 1 would increase protections for partisan poll watchers, which critics say is a form of intimidation, and add new ID requirements for voting by mail  

SB 1 would also outlaw drive-thru voting and require voting to happen inside a building. It also would ban 24-hour voting and the distribution of unsolicited mail-in ballot applications.

On July 12, Texas House Democrats left the state leaving the House without a quorum to vote on the bill. They headed for the nation’s capital in a high-profile effort to block passage of GOP-backed voting restrictions.

After a month of lobbying members of Congress, the Democrats returned and the House passed the measure last Tuesday. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is  expected to sign it into law.

"SB1’s restrictions on any assistance outside of reading and marking the ballot, like answering questions on how to use the voting machine or where to drop the completed ballot at the polling place, and SB1’s criminalization of anyone answering those questions, unlawfully restricts the broad voting assistance rights under Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act,” said Susana Lorenzo-Giguere, Senior Staff Attorney at AALDEF.

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