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Veterans
Related: About this forumWorld War II Vet's Ballot Application Denied Twice Due To New Texas Voter Suppression Law; Age 95
- Kenneth Thompson, WWII veteran, and rejected mail-in voter.
- Daily Kos, Jan. 28, 2022.
Heres a headline Texas Republicans probably werent looking for when they passed SB1, their voter suppression law: "Ive never missed a vote: 95-year-old World War II Veteran says his mail-in ballot application has been denied twice due to new requirements. Ive been voting many, many years and Ive never missed a vote, Kenneth Thompson told local news reporter Taisha Walker. Hes been voting so long he paid a poll tax. (The official kind thats now been replaced with endless and sometimes costly hoops to jump through.) But Texas Republicans have jeopardized Thompsons unbroken record.
Voters asking for a mail ballot are now required to include a partial Social Security number or drivers license number on the ballot applicationand that number has to match whats on their registration record. But when Kenneth Thompson registered to vote in the 1940s, voter registrations did not include those numbers, so he literally cannot provide the information required. There is no number that would match his voter registration. As a result, his ballot application was denied twice, even after his daughter contacted both county and state officials to try to get the issue resolved.
We know its a new law, were happy to correct it, Thompsons daughter, Delinda Holland, said. Hes a law-abiding citizen. He doesnt want to miss voting, and yet, theres no mechanism to add that drivers license to your record. Instead, Holland finally re-registered her fatherafter hed been voting for more than seven decadesto ensure that hed be eligible to vote. He says if he doesnt get a mail ballot, he will vote in person, but hes concerned about people for whom thats not an option.
I can get out and move around and go to a regular polling place, but these people, lots of people just cant.
Elderly white men who served in World War II are not who Texas Republicans were aiming to disenfranchise with this law. But the fact that they cast a net broad enough to catch at least one such person shows how many voters are going to run into problemsproblems that in the case of people in groups that lean Democratic are fully intentional. A new analysis by Mother Jones showed that a Georgia law similarly aimed at making it more difficult to vote worked as planned, leading to dramatic increases in the number of mail ballot applications and mail ballots rejected in the states 2021 municipal elections. Texas appears to be on track for the same stellar results...
More,
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/1/28/2077300/-World-War-II-veteran-s-mail-ballot-application-rejected-twice-thanks-to-Texas-voter-suppression-law
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World War II Vet's Ballot Application Denied Twice Due To New Texas Voter Suppression Law; Age 95 (Original Post)
appalachiablue
Jan 2022
OP
Does the law prevent him from updating his voter registration with the new information?
ColinC
Jan 2022
#1
PEOPLE, get Voting ID in order early, avoid roadblocks: Backup 2nd ID- SS Card, Passport
appalachiablue
Jan 2022
#4
ColinC
(10,667 posts)1. Does the law prevent him from updating his voter registration with the new information?
Even if it does, I hear there is so much backlog, he could have little success doing so.
appalachiablue
(42,906 posts)3. Real obstruction, & set to backfire..
Response to appalachiablue (Original post)
The Unmitigated Gall This message was self-deleted by its author.
appalachiablue
(42,906 posts)4. PEOPLE, get Voting ID in order early, avoid roadblocks: Backup 2nd ID- SS Card, Passport
Response to appalachiablue (Original post)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.