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Texas leaders debate bill that would make voting illegally a felony
The Senate State Affairs Committee debated Senate Bill 2 on Monday. The bill would restore felony punishment if someone is caught voting illegally and lower the level of proof for prosecuting suspected voter fraud.
AUSTIN, Texas - Leadership in the Texas Senate is moving to restore a felony punishment if someone is caught voting illegally and lowering the level of proof for prosecuting suspected voting fraud.
"I'm concerned about the change," said SMU political science professor Cal Jillson.
The Senate State Affairs Committee debated Senate Bill 2 on Monday.
"In 2021 the major voting bill was SB 1, and it reduced the penalty for illegal voting from a second degree felony to a misdemeanor, but made voting more difficult in a number of ways," said Jillson.
A felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
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That is more than convictions for aggravated assault, deadly conduct or terrorist threats.
"Would you think that a person who made an honest mistake should have more severe punishment in comparison to aggravated assaults and terroristic threats?" argued State Senator Judith Zaffirini (D- Laredo).
"I think there would be judicial discretion in something like that, but I don't feel that the penalty is too severe," said Bob Green who supports the bill.
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SB 2 changes language in the law so that if a person votes when they know of a particular circumstance that could make them not eligible to vote, they could face charges.
"If you want to go after election fraud go after the criminals, the few that there are, but please don't criminalize honest mistakes," said Alex Mead, who opposes the bill.
"It is a seed change in the law that would expose countless innocent Texans to felony prosecution for simple mistakes and instead of one innocent victim like Crystal Mason there could be hundreds, even thousands," said Emily French, the attorney representing Crystal Mason.
Mason is the Tarrant County woman who was sentenced to five years in prison for illegal voting in 2016.
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Mason used a provisional ballot while she was on a supervised release from a federal conviction and maintains she did not know she was not eligible to vote. Her appeal is pending.
"When she voted with that provisional ballot she signed a statement that said I have not been convicted of a felony or I have completed my term. She had not completed those, and she was convicted of a felony again," said State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) who wrote SB 2. "That's not the best example, but y'all keep bringing it up, so I would just encourage folks to look at that case and see if it's really the poster child. We believe it is a great example of why we need this bill passed."
SB 2 is the first of a handful of bills that seek to make an illegal voting conviction a felony again, and some that give Attorney General Ken Paxton broader authority to pursue these types of cases.
The legislation was named as a priority of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick this session.