Austin, TX – The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas along with a coalition of advocacy organizations voiced their opposition to voter suppression bills House Bill 5337 and its companion Senate Bill 16, in a press conference Thursday Morning ahead of the House Elections Committee. These bills would require documented proof of citizenship to register to vote, creating unconstitutional and unnecessary barriers to voting. H.B. 5337 will disenfranchise millions of Texans, particularly young people, naturalized citizens, married women, and low-income communities.
Texas already has effective safeguards to ensure our voter rolls only contain eligible voters. County officials and the Secretary of State’s office work together to verify citizenship through government databases. Rather than making meaningful improvements to our election system, H.B. 5337 will create new obstacles for eligible voters, with an estimated 1.3 million voting-age Texans lacking easy access to the proof of citizenship documents required by the bill.
Instead of further protecting elections, H.B. 5337 will sow chaos, cost eligible Texas voters money and time, and pile up paperwork on the desks of Texas’s 254 counties.
“H.B. 5337 and S.B. 16 are unconstitutional and would subject every voter — even those already registered — to a flawed verification system that could purge tens of thousands of people from voter rolls, Mary Ibarra (she/her), Policy and Advocacy Strategist, ACLU of Texas.” “These anti-voter efforts will disproportionately prevent naturalized citizens, voters of color, and new voters from registering to vote, and place significant costs on taxpayers. Our elections are safe and secure and we deserve better than elected officials weaponizing false narratives. Every eligible Texan should be able to easily cast a vote that counts. No exceptions.”
“H.B. 5337 puts newly naturalized citizens at risk of being wrongly flagged as noncitizens and even referred for criminal investigation simply for trying to register to vote,” Joyce LeBombard, League of Women Voters of Texas. “This bill will create a chilling effect on civic participation and undermine the very rights these new Americans have worked so hard to earn.”
“H.B. 5337 and S.B. 16 are calculated attempts to block eligible voters--especially Black and Latino people, as well as naturalized citizens and other vulnerable communities--from the ballot box,” Louis Bedford, Policy Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense Fund. “This isn't about election integrity; it's about voter suppression, plain and simple.”
List of Additional Organizations Opposing H.B. 5337 and S.B. 16
- MOVE Texas Civic Fund
- Texas Freedom Network
- Texas Rising
- League of Women Voters Texas
- ACLU Texas
- VoteRiders
- Texas Civil Rights Project
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund
- Common Cause Texas
- La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE)
- Clean Elections Texas
- Public Citizen
- Generation Vote Alief
- Texas Impact
- Texas Legislative Progressive Caucus
- Local Progress Texas
- Coalition of Texans with Disabilities
- March to the Polls
- Southwest Voter Registration Education Project
- REV UP Texas
- Jolt
- Protect Democracy
- Asian Texans for Justice
- Fair Elections Center
- Progress Texas
- Stand Up America
- Bloom RGV
- Radical Registrars
- The Cornerstone Project
- Battleground Texas Engagement Fund
- Texas AFL-CIO
- Next Gen America
- Deeds Not Words
- Emgage
- Planned Parenthood Advocates of Texas
- Transgender Education Network of Texas
- Equality Texas
- The Religious Action Center - Texas
- Every Texan
- Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT)
