Congress Must Override Speaker Phelan’s Attempts to Silence Black and Brown Voters
By Elsa Caballero
This month, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 1 into law, an anti-voter bill that imposes sweeping restrictions on voting access in Texas. Democratic lawmakers and leaders across the state of Texas had been sounding the alarm for months, calling on Congress to pass federal legislation that would boost and safeguard access to voting — and prevent much of the extremist anti-voter provisions in the bill.
Despite Texas Democrats valiant efforts to block it, this discriminatory legislation is now the law of the land and there is no more time to waste. It’s the responsibility of members of Congress in Washington to reckon with one of America’s bedrock values: whether every American has the freedom to vote.
As the president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Texas, I joined leaders in speaking out against this racist and hateful bill, which will impact thousands of health care workers, security officers, janitors, and other essential workers of our union. The same people who are trying to make it harder for working people to organize are making it harder for communities of color to vote. Over the past few months, Texas Democrats strengthened our coalition and began a much-needed national conversation on protecting our freedom and right to vote, which included organizing marches, conferences, and meetings in Washington and back home here in Texas. But now that Texas Republicans aggressively pushed the anti-voter bill through, we need our elected leaders in Washington to act.
For far too long, those in power have erected deliberate barriers aimed at silencing the voices of Black and brown voters so they can continue to govern in their own self-interests. Gov. Abbott, along with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan, are supposed to work on behalf of the people. They could be fixing our energy grid, addressing the rising rates of COVID-19 or protecting our kids as they return to school but instead are wasting Texans’ time and money on legislative attacks to block voters from Black and brown communities like mine. They’ve decided to politicize access to voting — a core American value that should rise above politics. It’s time for Congress to act with the urgency this moment demands and pass federal legislation to protect voting — one of America’s most precious freedoms.
I want to be clear about why this is so critical. The 2020 presidential election had historic participation. Turnout increased in every state and 98 percent of counties, including Jefferson County, which saw a nearly 4 percent increase in turnout. Republicans saw voters of color specifically show up in record numbers in the 2020 election — making our voices heard on the issues we care about. And now, as an act of retribution, Republicans wanted to make sure that never happens again.
Among other restrictive steps, Gov. Abbott, Lt. Gov. Patrick and House Speaker Phelan, a Beaumont-area Representative, made it a felony for election workers to send unrequested mail-in ballot applications — an effort to restrict an accessible form of voting. They restricted early and absentee voting — an effort to stop workers, who lean heavily Democrat and rely on weekend or extended voting hours so they can cast ballots after work. They also further empowered intimidating poll watchers, who showed up at Texas voting sites last fall with guns slung over their shoulders as a fear tactic to keep people from turning out at the polls. The legislation also allows the state government to perform monthly citizenship checks and purge voters from the rolls — tactics that overwhelmingly target Black and brown Texans, particularly naturalized citizens. Texas has already enacted laws making it one of the hardest states in the nation to vote and has closed more than 700 polling places across the state — most of them concentrated in low-income and Black and brown neighborhoods.
But on top of this, new redistricting maps enacted by Republicans could have a devastating impact on Democratic representation in Congress. A recent study found that Republicans could gain up to 13 seats and take over the House in the midterms by gerrymandering just four southern states that they already control, including Texas. Banning racial or partisan gerrymandering is the most important thing we can do to create fair representation, and stop partisan attempts to hijack political power.
Black and brown voters across the nation have been systematically disenfranchised for as long as we have had the constitutional freedom to vote in America — particularly here in Texas. But throughout our history, Black and brown voters have also fought to ensure our freedom to vote is honored. Today, we need to demand that Congress step in and protect our democracy by passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act or the Freedom to Vote Act, which was introduced by Senate Democrats this month.
Time is running out for Congress to act. This is not just about Texas or one election. This is about ensuring we will make progress on the issues we care about — a living wage, affordable healthcare, workers rights and more. It is about electing leaders who represent us — and will fight for us. Congress must get the job done, because for elections to work for all of us, they must include all of us.
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Elsa Caballero is the president of SEIU Texas and organizer for more than 20 years. She is a proud immigrant from Honduras.
