Texas Bill Would Make Illegal Voting a Felony

State Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Republican from Mineola, filed Senate Bill 2 late last month to increase the penalty for illegal voting. If the bill becomes law, the classification of the crime would change from a Class A misdemeanor to a second degree felony. Texas Democrats say the bill opens people up to felony charges for simple mistakes and is a scare tactic to keep voters away from the polls.

The bill says a person commits an offense if they knowingly or intentionally vote or attempt to vote in an election “in which the person knows of a particular circumstance that makes the person not eligible to vote.”

This can be applied in a variety of ways. That’s what’s concerning Brenda Cruz, the deputy director of voter protection for the Texas Democratic Party. Cruz said in a statement that potential voters — especially new Texas residents and people who have recently changed addresses in the state — may be so intimidated by the idea of accidentally ending up in prison that they won’t turn out to vote.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that this bill is intended to have a chilling effect on voting in Texas,” Cruz said. “Republicans are betting that the fewer people vote, the higher their likelihood of them maintaining power.”

Cruz added, “This bill is so deeply wrong and represents a full-on assault on our right as Americans to vote for our leaders.”

The Texas Democratic Party is also concerned about the discretion prosecutors would have in implementing SB 2. The party questions whether district attorneys would go after every provisional ballot cast or focus on some classes of voters more than others.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that this bill is intended to have a chilling effect on voting in Texas.” – Brenda Cruz, Texas Democratic Party

tweet this

“Why give prosecutors unchecked power to prosecute honest mistakes?” Gilberto Hinojosa, the Texas Democratic Party chairman, said in a statement. “Republican politicians are betting that if they scare away enough voters of either party, and give prosecutors free rein to make an example of someone from the opposite party, election results will come out in their favor. Or if the results don’t go their way, they can kick up enough dust to undermine confidence in them.”

Hinojosa said there’s no other explanation for this bill that makes sense.

The charge had been downgraded to a misdemeanor during the last legislative session through another bill Hughes authored, Senate Bill 1. The reduction was added to the bill by Rep. Steve Allison, a San Antonio Republican, according to The Texas Tribune. It wasn’t until after Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill in 2021 that other Texas Republicans realized it. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has said the change was made at the last minute and should be reversed.

Hughes’ SB 2 would do that and more. The Mineola Republican did not respond to a request for comment. His bill was taken up and approved by the Senate State Affairs Committee on Monday. During the committee meeting, he said the bill is partly intended to clear up the law around illegal voting in Texas. It’s a response to a case involving a resident named Crystal Mason who was convicted for casting a provisional ballot in Texas during the 2016 election while on supervised release for a previous felony. Mason claims she didn’t know this made her ineligible to vote.

The Second Court of Appeals said this didn’t matter when it came to Mason’s prosecution, but the Court of Criminal Appeals said it did. Hughes’ bill would make this irrelevant.

During the committee meeting, Hughes said: “Under SB 2, if you are a felon, and you know that you are a felon, you don’t have to also know that it’s illegal for felons to vote,” said Hughes. “If you’re not a citizen, you have to know that you’re not a citizen, but you don’t have to know that citizens cannot vote.”