PUBLIC COMMENTS HB 6 HOUSE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS Hearing Date: March 25, 2021 8:00 AM Britt Garner self Austin, TX This bill is not needed. There is no voter fraud to speak of in Texas and this is pure voter supression. Sarah Lewis Self Kerrville, TX I strongly oppose HB 6. I support expanded access to the ballot box. I support online voter registration, expanded voting hours and longer early voting periods. I support no-excuse vote by mail.?? Samantha Chang VDR, SELF Austin, TX I oppose HB6 and efforts to restrict voting and voters' rights. Texans already have hurdles to jump through in order to vote. Adding more prevents many eligible voters from voting. Cari Marshall Volunteer Deputy Voter Registrar Austin, TX STOP MAKING IT HARDER TO VOTE!!! I support expanded access to the ballot box, online voter registration, expanded voting hours and longer early voting periods. I support no-excuse vote by mail.?? Stop disenfranchising your constituents!! Katherine Diamond Self-medical coder Kerrville, TX I strongly oppose HB 6. I support expanded access to the ballot box. I support online voter registration, expanded voting hours and longer early voting periods. I support no-excuse vote by mail. Tony Zink Self San Antonio, TX Printed on: April 9, 2021 11:06 AM Page 1 of 540 Texas does not need more restrictions that prevent voters access to the ballot box. Texas is one of only 10 states that do not allow online voter registration. Limiting access to the ballot box is unconstitutional. Cecelia Gonzalez-Dippel Self/ Mayor of Floresville, Tx Floresville, TX I am Cecelia Gonzalez-Dippel, citizen and current Mayor of the city of Floresville, Tx. On July 17th of 2019 my council called for a special meeting and voted unanimously to move our city elections from November to May. Our city charter calls for elections to be held in May, but the council in 2011 voted to move city elections from May to November as they could at that time, but the window to move them back to May has since lapsed. In my research, all written and verbal opinions on the legality of this move back to May states that this is against the current election laws of the State of Texas. The council refused to resend the ordinance that changed the election dates and after notifying county and state agencies who I thought would rectify this movement, myself and Nick Nissen, David Johns and Paul Sack, who where going to be candidates for the upcoming positions came together and decided to do everything we could to insure our city follow the laws of the state of Texas. Our hope was that the agency or agencies, we felt could uphold the law would do so, but we quickly found out that our county and state officials agreed it was not in the election laws, but would not go forward with any action, leaving the four of us as citizens and as Mayor to go forward with a civil lawsuit. It has been almost a year and a half and yet our case is in the court with no final determination. The process to stand by the law has been at the least to say stressful. The four of us and our families have been under financial and emotional stress to try to hold up the letter of the law in our city. I watched another city in Texas propose to move their postponed election from November to May and the State attorney General's office within days ruled they could not and yet we in our community continue to wait for a final ruling. I am a citizen of Floresville and Wilson county and feel neglected by city and state officials to do what is right. As you consider legislation on the State of Texas Election Codes, please consider all cities and counties, whether small like Floresville or large cities like Austin. Lisa Coleman Self Houston, TX Election Integrity is of the utmost importance in preserving the constitutional republic that is America. We absolutely cannot allow another miscarriage of justice that was the 2020 election. Susan Korbel, Dr. Volunteer Deputy Registrar SAN ANTONIO, TX I oppose HB 6 because 276.015 restricts citizens from helping others learn about and apply for the vote by mail option who are eligible to seek this option. Over the past year, during the times of COVID, there were many seniors who had difficulty accessing online forms, and I was able to help them get their VBM application. I consider this a civic duty to help others without access to the technical tools the support they need. Printed on: April 9, 2021 11:06 AM Page 2 of 540 the technical tools the support they need. Sue Bullock, Mrs. Self Dallas, TX I fully support this bill because it addresses directly the flaws in our election process. I am 100% for Texas leading the way toward stalwart integrity of our elections. Thank you for your patriotism and devotion to duty! Elizabeth Richter self KERRVILLE, TX I strongly oppose HB 6. I support expanded access to the ballot box. I support online voter registration, expanded voting hours, and longer early voting periods. I support no-excuse vote by mail. Suzann Madeley Self/retired Austin, TX Please spend your time on something that will help Texans. There is virtually no voter fraud. Meanwhile many Texans don’t have food or jobs or homes. Robert Gratz self - Volunteer Deputy Voter Registrar Lockhart, TX As a volunteer deputy voter registrar and election judge, I can tell you firsthand that HB6 is not helpful. Voting in Texas is already difficult and complicated enough. HB6 will take us in the wrong direction and will make voting even more difficult than it already is. As a seventh-generation Texan, I know that our ancestors believed in civic engagement and fairness. We should be making it easier to register and vote and HB6 does neither. I encourage you to pursue same-day and online voter registration. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it will also save taxpayer dollars. Very truly, R David Gratz Lockhart, TX (the BBQ Capital of Texas) Tina Hester Volunteer Deputy Registrar Austin, TX Please oppose HB 6. We should be focusing on making voting more accessible, not less. Michelle Manning-Scott Self/community volunteer w/various Austin area non-profits Austin, TX Printed on: April 9, 2021 11:06 AM Page 3 of 540 I OPPOSE the passage of this bill and urge all lawmakers to vote AGAINST it. Christine Pollom Self Austin, TX I oppose this bill. It is just another way to try to suppress votes. We should make it as easy as possible for everyone to vote. Leticia Rojas self; communications professional Houston, TX This bill is an affront to your constituents, to Texans at large and democracy itself. This bill would silence the voices of hundreds of thousands of Texans, especially voices of color and the disabled. Purging the voter rolls, establishing arbitrary voting hours and restricting new, innovative practices like drive-thru voting and proactive vote-by-mail application outreach are nothing but a shameful attempt to hold on to power. Stop wasting my tax dollars trying to find nonexistent cases of voter fraud and try actually governing so you can win elections fair and square. Kimberly Parsons Self - Homemaker Jefferson, TX I oppose HB 6. Texas has some of the most stringent voting laws in the country. The optics are that the GOP wants to win by disenfranchising voters. NOT a good look! Dixie Davis Patriotic Citizen Kyle, TX The "purity" of the ballot box is not in question. It is a smoke screen to disenfranchise the poor and those who work jobs they can't take off. It's a plan to disenfranchise people like my husband, a truck driver who is gone away from home far more than he's at home. It's part of a plan to limit "democracy" to those who support a radical, anti-American agenda, while disenfranchising all other voices. In a democracy, every citizen's voice matters. HB 6 seeks to silence many voices, predominantly those of the working poor. Rebekah Janes Self, office manager Austin, TX I am very much opposed to HB6. I support expanded access to the ballot box. I support online voter registration, expanded voting hours and longer early voting periods. I support no-excuse vote by mail.?? Cissy Sanders Self Austin, TX Printed on: April 9, 2021 11:06 AM Page 4 of 540 Dear Committe Members, I am writing to you today to voice my opposition to HB6. This legislation suppresses an individual's right to vote. This legislation betrays civic engagement and the very cornerstone of our democracy. I support expanded access to the ballot box. I support online voter registration, expanded voting hours and longer early voting periods. I support vote by mail. Texas needs to hear the voices of all of its citizens at the ballot box. Lawmakers should not pick and choose which of their constituents that they want to vote. Lawmakers are elected by the people. Lawmakers' salaries are paid for by taxpayer dollars. Therefore, the people paying the lawmakers' salaries are the ones that get to pick who they want to serve them; not the other way around. Bradley Gilbert Concerned citizen Kerrville, TX This would be a step backwards for our democracy. Voter suppression is unconscionable. Laura Weaver self/retired Spring, TX I am against HB 6, as I am against any bill that limits the efforts of election workers to protect voters against illegal harassment by watchers.