“Now they’re coming for my right to vote, but soon they’re coming for your rights!” In a demonstration at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, the chairman of the civil rights movement NAACP speaks words of caution. Like all other speakers, he is very concerned about the new electoral laws that Republicans are trying to pass in almost all American states.
Those laws are aimed at making it more difficult for the black population in particular to cast their vote, by introducing all kinds of restrictive measures. The electoral law they want to introduce in Texas is going the furthest.
“Texas is ground zero for vote suppression,” a polling station chairman said, referring to the New York site where the September 11 attacks took place. “It’s kind of a life and death struggle for us. One that our ancestors started a long time ago,” says a young man.
‘Souls to the polls’
The law prohibits voting after church on Sundays (called ‘Souls to the polls’) and abolishes 24-hour and drive-through voting. It is also made much more difficult to cast postal votes. All arrangements that make it difficult for people in black neighborhoods in particular to cast their vote.
Because you need proof of identity for postal voting, for example, and African Americans often don’t have that. They also often vote together, right after going to church. That would become impossible in the future. The number of polling stations would also be limited in many places, so that you would have to travel further to be able to vote. That is discouraging for many people.
When the vote on this electoral law was due in May, the Democrats walked out of the room just before the end, so the vote could not go ahead because the required number of votes was not reached. But the Republicans have the majority in Texas and the Republican governor has already indicated that the vote will go ahead in a special session soon.
A voting rights rally is held in front of the Capitol in Austin, Texas:
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