Austin American-Statesman: Nancy Pelosi: Texas’ voting investigation shows need for federal voting rights law

An investigation by Texas officials into potential voter fraud that threatened to jeopardize voting rights of naturalized citizens illustrates how important voter rights protections are, U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Austin on Tuesday.

The activity in the Texas "shows only more importantly the need" for voting rights legislation the U.S. House will take up this week, Pelosi said.

H.R. 1, the "For the People Act," is designed to ease voting; reduce partisan redistricting; and limit what Pelosi called "the influence of big, dark money" in campaigns.

Critical of moves in Washington and Texas revolving around voting, Pelosi said the state investigation was "part of a whole picture of undermining the Constitution."

She was joined by Julieta Garibay, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit accusing Texas state officials of illegally targeting her and others because they are foreign-born.

State officials have acknowledged that an initial list of 95,000 suspect voters that was circulated to county election officials includes at least 25,000 naturalized U.S. citizens who are eligible to cast a ballot.

A federal judge recently criticized the state's investigation as ham-handed and flawed, and on Monday, the secretary of state's office told officials, in accordance with the judge's decision, to "pause their efforts" to verify the citizenship status of registered voters, halting for now the nearly six-week-old investigation.

Texas Secretary of State David Whitley, state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott "sounded a false alarm of voter fraud, not only trampling my rights but intimidating foreign-born naturalized citizens from exercising our right to vote," Garibay said.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, said at the event that Texas officials had trafficked in "false claims."

"We believe the focus needs to be on bringing more people to vote not driving them away," he said.

The visit of Pelosi to Texas — on Monday night she gave the keynote speech at the Travis County Democratic Party — was instantly used by Republicans to try to raise money.

"Nancy Pelosi is coming after Texas," U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican who lives in unincorporated Hays County and represents parts of South and Central Austin, said in a fundraising note. "We will keep Texas Republican, strong and prosperous with your help — wherever you live. Speaker Pelosi isn't kidding that Texas will determine the fate of the nation."