Fair Elections

Published on:

March 31, 2025

Chairman's Monday Message

Greetings, everyone. It was not too long ago that the topic of this missive was electoral system reform. Just last week, President Trump signed an executive order on election integrity that includes the following:

• Requires documented, government issued proof of US citizenship on its voter registration forms.
• Conditions federal election-related funds on states complying with the integrity measures set forth in Federal law.
• Directs updating of the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0 and security standards for voting equipment — which includes requiring a voter-verifiable paper ballot record and not using ballots in which the counted vote is contained within a barcode or QR code.
• Directs the US Attorney General to enter into information sharing agreements with state elections officials to identify cases of election fraud or other election law violations.
• Takes appropriate action against states that count ballots received after Election Day in Federal elections.
• Revokes Biden Executive Order 14019, which turned Federal agencies into Democratic voter turnout centers.

Now, this is all very good, but we need to have legislation passed that supports this initiative. I was relieved to learn that Texas Congressman Pete Sessions is indeed working on a legislative framework for such. Congressman Sessions has announced his “Make Elections Secure Act (MESA)” to align with President Trump’s executive order. Here are the five pillars:

1. Hand-marked and hand-counted paper ballots: MESA mandates the exclusive use of hand-marked paper ballots for all federal elections and primaries receiving federal funds. This eliminates reliance on vulnerable electronic systems, ensuring a tamper-proof, human-verifiable process that reflects voters’ intent.

2. Voter ID and citizenship requirements: The bill requires every voter to present a government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license, passport, or military ID and sign an affidavit in the paper poll book affirming US citizenship and single voter intent under penalty of felony charges.

3. Shortened early voting: Some states have early voting starting in September. Early voting would be limited to three days prior to Election Day, the final Tuesday of voting. This will streamline administration processes and concentrate resources for secure, manageable hand counts.

4. Limited unsolicited mail in ballots: This has to be very specified. There should be two ways of voting, in person, and by requested mail ballot if one is out of the country, or physically incapable of voting in person.

5. Paper elections and small precincts, no more countywide voting:  MESA mandates paper poll books as the primary voter check-in method and caps precinct sizes at 1,500 registered voters, returning elections to community-based, transparent operations that facilitate efficient hand counting and local oversight.

This is commendable, but much of this can be done right here in our Texas state legislature. We should not have any insidious conditions like the “Reasonable Impediment Declaration” that precludes the presentation of voter ID and verifiable US citizenship. Our Texas state legislature, where we have favorable majorities of Republicans in the House and Senate, could take up many of these legislative items and pass them. The question is why not?

We still have a restriction upon the Attorney General of Texas from being able to prosecute election/voter fraud cases. That was placed upon him by a Republican Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The question is why? Again, why can’t the Texas state legislature pass a bill to rectify this situation?

The areas in Texas where we have the most concern about electoral systems reform are in the major urban population centers, and we all know what happened last election cycle in Dallas County. If anyone believes that Dallas County DA John Creuzot is going to prosecute cases of voter fraud, you’re delusional. If anyone believes that the Dallas County Commission is going to resolve its issues, you are deranged. They are certainly not going to fire Dallas County Elections Administrator Heider Garcia, regardless of his quite disconcerting past.

We did get a small victory with the current ePollbook system contract being terminated, but we still have countywide voting and electronic systems.

The Dallas County GOP is working to put on a paper ballot hand-count demonstration in May after the municipal elections. If you are interested in helping, please contact our Executive Director, Dee Holley. We must show that we can return to precinct level, hand-counted paper ballots, and pressure those in elected positions to take action. As you know, the biennial Texas legislative session ends in May, meaning we have two months to go. At this point, nothing has been produced from the Texas State House. Perhaps just the whole power-sharing co-chair thingy with Democrats will be recognized for the traitorous folly that it is.

Texas can take legislative action itself to rectify the issues with electoral system reform. We should not just sit back and allow leftists in Texas to disregard President Trump’s executive order, which they will.

Steadfast and Loyal!