By Mike Killalea, NSD president
The good news is that Travis County’s voter-registration rate is sky high; the bad is that its early-voting percent is the lowest among Central Texas counties, Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar Bruce Elfant said. Elfant addressed the NSD at its 10/26 Meet & Greet. Watch the complete video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs3ClI4G_e0
Elfant is retiring at year end after 32 years of service to Travis County, both in his current position, and previously as a county constable.
He had words of optimism and caution for the group.
“It’s a pretty dark time for voting rights,” Elfant said. “Just in recent weeks, the Attorney General did a raid on a bunch of people for so-called illegal voting for non-citizens.”
Even more chilling, one of the people whose home was raided was a candidate for state representative, he said.
Elfant said that Greg Abbott’s much ballyhooed purge of a million voters was simply routine list maintenance – purging the deceased, people who have left the county, etc.
“But he scared the hell out of people, and I can't tell you the number of calls and emails we received from people asking, ‘Am I still on the rolls?’, ‘Did Governor Abbott purge me?’,” reported Elfant.
Even district judges were confused, and called Elfant. He explained that the judges’ information was redacted, so they could not look themselves up.
“I had a half a dozen district judges expressing concern that Governor Abbott might have removed them from the rolls,” he said. “This is the kind of environment we're in.”
Elfant has long been an advocate for online voter registration, just as 43 states and the territory of Guam enjoy.
“Most states have either automatic registration or same-day registration, but not Texas,” Elfant said. “Most states allow their citizens to vote by mail if they choose, with no restrictions, but not Texas.
Issues like this contribute to suppressing the rolls.
“We're having to deal with a lot of lawsuits against jurisdictions [that have removed] polling places, especially in minority areas and student campuses, college campuses,” Elfant remarked. “And, fortunately, most of those lawsuits have been successful, and we've been able to restore some of those locations.”
He often hears people complaining that, due to state gerrymandering and other factors, their vote will not count.
“My response to that is, if we have a high enough turnout, our votes can have influence,” Elfant said. He cited 2018, when Dems picked up many appellate court positions and hundreds of elected positions.
It’s one thing to register; it’s another to turn out to vote. Travis County boasts a 96.3% voter registration rater – the highest of any Texas urban county – but only 25% for voter turnout, judging from early totals through October 25-ish. That 25% is the lowest in Central Texas.
Elfant quoted President Obama: “He said voter suppression's a bad thing, and we need to fight it at every turn. But voter suppression is dwarfed by the number of people who voluntarily choose not to vote.”
We all know some dedicated non-voters. There are a lot, because the USA ranks 100th – 100th – in the world for voter turnout, Elfant reported.
In honor of Bruce Elfant’s decades of service and friendship, NSD presented him with a small gift, and the group enjoyed a retirement cake.
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