Journalistic Malpractice at the Houston Chronicle

I’m proud to say that PJ Media covers election law issues better than major daily papers like the Houston Chronicle.  Consider an article by David Saleh Rauf.  

David Saleh Rauf

Rauf covers the story of a bipartisan bill in the Texas legislature designed to cut down on ballot harvesters – people who go out and collect scores of absentee ballots from people, a notorious source of fraud.  Rauf writes (inaccurately):

The proposal – House Bill 148 by Rep. Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale – would cap the number of ballots that an individual can mail in any election to 10. Republicans argue the bill is needed to disinfect a mail-in voter system they say is rampant with fraud, in large part, because of crooked vote harvesters who get paid to go door-to-door collecting ballots and then doing what they see fit with them. . . .From the House floor, Democrats warned the bill could be unconstitutional, that it may run afoul of the Voting Rights Act and that it ultimately could have a chilling effect on the ability of some elderly and disabled to cast ballots.

Really?  Violate the Voting Rights Act? 

Why do reporters at dead-trees outlets swallow any myth about the law that the Left dangles in front of them?  The answer is simple – mere mention of the Voting Rights Act is designed to frighten legislators and introduce race into any debate about election process laws.  In the past, it has served to clear the decks of any opposition to what Democrats want.

But the Voting Rights Act in no way affects the Texas legislation at issue (apart from the preclearance obligation under Section 5, an obligation that may be ended shortly by the Spreme Court.)  The Voting Rights Act prevents states from engaging in racial discrimination, not age discrimination.  It does not reach protection of the elderly or disabled.  So if a state wanted to limit the vote in state elections to everyone under 60, or only make an absentee ballot available to those under 50 in all elections, it could do so.  It would be stupid policy, for sure, but the elderly and disabled are not protected classes in the Voting Rights Act or 15th Amendment.

Doubt it? Then read the law.

But no matter. Precision isn’t important if Rauf and the Houston Chronicle can lend a hand to the Democrats in the Texas legislature.  One thing is for sure, voter fraud is widespread when it comes to harvesting of absentee ballots.  And thankfully Texas is trying to do something about it.