Texas Leaves Stumbling Blocks in Way of Voting
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4A Tuesday, August 18, 2020 OPINION Denton Record-Chronicle Kamala Harris Published by a moderate? Founded from weekly newspapers the Denton Chronicle, established in 1882, Not even close. and the Denton Record, established in 1897. n case you haven’t noticed, there is a not- Published daily as the Denton Record-Chronicle so-subtle campaign afoot to paint Sen. since August 3, 1903. IKamala Harris, D-Calif., as a centrist — an effort that exposes the left’s strategy to EDITORIAL BOARD PAST PUBLISHERS fool the American people into giving them Bill Patterson William C. “Will” Edwards political power in November. Publisher and CEO 1903-1927 After presumptive Democratic presiden- Sean McCrory Robert J. “Bob” Edwards tial nominee Joe Biden announced Harris Executive Editor 1927-1945 as his running mate, The New York Times Jenna Duncan Riley Cross immediately declared her a “pragmatic Digital Editor 1945-1970 moderate,” the Los Angeles Times called her Mariel Tam-Ray Vivian Cross a “centrist,” and ABC Nightside Editor 1970-1986 News anchor George Scott Sackett Fred Patterson Stephanopoulos told Community Member 1986-1999 his viewers “Kamala Harris comes from the Editorials published in the Denton Record-Chronicle Texas leaves stumbling middle of the road, are determined by the editorial board. moderate wing of the Questions and suggestions should be directed to: Democratic Party.” Denton Record-Chronicle No, she doesn’t. 3555 Duchess Drive, Denton, TX 76205 blocks in way of voting Harris was the “most Marc Phone: 940-566-6800 liberal compared to Email: [email protected] f the folks in charge wanted everybody in Nov. 3 election. With slow mail deliveries, all senators” in 2019, Thiessen Texas to vote, they would remove every that’s pressing your luck. You send an appli- according to Gov- Ireal and imagined obstacle to voting. cation, they send a ballot, you vote and send Track, the nonpar- Guest View They do not. They are not. it back; even in good times, that’s tight. tisan government transparency watchdog That makes perverse sense: It’s unrea- The USPS warned Texas and other — to the left of even her democratic-socialist sonable to expect elected officials to change states on Friday that it can’t guarantee colleague, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Harris the system that got them elected. If you’re delivery of a late crush of mail ballots. wasn’t “pragmatic” either. GovTrack found Prison with zero virus winning a game every time, you probably In other words, the later the vote, the she “joined bipartisan bills the least often don’t want to change the rules. Unless, that greater the chance it won’t be counted. compared with Senate Democrats.” According is, you see a threat to your continued dom- The early voter gets the franchise: Ap- to Manhattan Institute budget expert Brian cases is an example inance. If you’ve been winning elections plications for mail ballots are available now Riedl, Harris has proposed a mind-numbing year in and year out, why would you want from the Texas secretary of state or your $46 trillion in new spending over the next de- This editorial first appeared in The Dallas Morning to change the complexion of the electorate local elections office. Or maybe your party. cade. She supports the economically ruinous News. Guest editorials don’t necessarily reflect the Denton by inviting new people The Texas Democratic Party is sending out Green New Deal, “Medicare for All” and free Record-Chronicle’s opinions. whose loyalties hav- 815,000 vote-by-mail applications to vot- taxpayer-funded health care for undocument- en’t been tested? ers. That’s a lot, but keep it in perspective: ed immigrants. She is also an abortion zealot cross Texas, more than 17,700 prison inmates and That makes anal- Nearly 9 million Texans voted in the last who has suggested that a faithful Catholic 3,700 prison employees have tested positive for ysis of any new voting presidential election, including 3.9 million who belongs to the Knights of Columbus is ACOVID-19. Of those, 112 prisoners and 16 employ- idea pretty simple. who voted for the Democratic ticket of unfit to serve as a federal judge. She opposes ees have died. That’s a higher death toll than any other Does it make it easier Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine. deportation of those who illegally enter the prison system in the nation, state or federal, according to to vote? Does it bring Texas Republicans are with the presi- United States and once compared Immigra- in more of the people dent, quite literally, worrying loudly about tion and Customs Enforcement agents to the reporting by The Texas Tribune. But none of those cases who are supposed to Ross the possibility that fraudulent voting by Ku Klux Klan. are among the 1,300 incarcerated men or 289 employees be participating in a mail is as common as cornflakes and also If Harris really were a moderate, progres- at the T.L. Roach Unit just outside of Childress. Roach democracy? Is anyone Ramsey making sure that their own vote-by-mail sives would be up in arms over her choice. is the only one of more than 100 Texas prisons that has who ought to be in- operations are turning out their voters. But they are not. Leftists understand that reported zero COVID-19 cases. cluded being unfairly If the law allowed the parties to promote to win in November, they must be able to Part of this success comes from the rural location of the kept out? Are the elections set up properly, voting by mail during the coronavirus pan- peel away reluctant Trump voters in key Roach Unit. As of Wednesday, the Texas Department of and is every vote promptly counted? demic — and if the post office and election swing states who are uncomfortable with State Health Services reported only 48 cases in Childress President Donald Trump inspired officials were in shape to keep up with it — the leftward lurch of today’s Democratic County. With a population of 7,300, that’s an infection that last question with his suggestion that there would be millions more applications Party. These voters need to believe that a rate about one-third of the statewide average. But accord- new funding for the Postal Service pro- on their way to Texas adults. Biden-Harris administration will be centrist ing to one inmate, this success story is also because of posed in the latest negotiations for federal That’s a prominent stumbling block, and reasonable so they can give themselves COVID-19 relief would make it easier for but Texas is full of them. You can’t register permission to defect and vote Democrats prison staff who “are not messing around.” Ricardo Guti- people to vote by mail. You know, the way to vote online, and you can’t register at all into power. So progressives and their allies in errez, a 36-year-old inmate at the Roach Unit, spoke with the president himself votes. for this year’s general election after Oct. the mainstream media have tried to portray the Tribune and described strict health protocols. He gave “Now, they need that money in order to 5. Texas requires voters to carry govern- Biden’s choice of Harris as another example credit to Warden Michael Crow and the staff at Roach for make the post office work, so it can take all ment-issued photo identification, a security of how he has kept the left at arm’s length. their meticulous care. of these millions and millions of ballots,” measure that has survived court challenges Progressives know it is a lie. Congres- The Roach Unit may be remote, but it’s not secluded. Trump said in a Thursday interview on the but not criticism that it’s an unnecessary sional Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Prisoners there make cleaning products, particularly soap Fox Business Network. complication designed to intimidate and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., recently said the and hand sanitizer, used throughout the state’s prison “Now, if we don’t make a deal, that impede voters. left need not worry about Biden’s moderate system. Trucks come and go often to pick up the product. means they don’t get the money,” he said. It’s not like this everywhere. Some states veneer because “he is movable.” As she told Employees are exposed regularly to the wider community “That means they can’t have universal mail- allow voters to register to vote on election The Daily Show host Trevor Noah, “As soon in voting, they just can’t have it.” day. Most don’t require excuses or extra as we get him in the White House, and even and to delivery drivers who crisscross the state. Texas doesn’t offer vote by mail to every- qualifications from voters who want to vote before with these task forces that we had, we Prison officials say that even though cleaning products one. You can vote absentee — by mail — if by mail. Some simply send ballots to all of were able to significantly push Joe Biden to are produced at Roach, they’re equally available to all you’re going to be out of your home county their citizens, who then cast votes by mail do things that he hadn’t signed on to before.” prisons. Following his talking points, Texas Department during the elections, if you’re disabled, or by dropping their ballots in secure public The left sees Biden as their Trojan horse. of Criminal Justice spokesperson Jeremy Desel told us jailed or 65 years old or older.