Texas is the latest state facing condemnation for passing voting reform laws. Many outlets on the left compared it to Georgia’s falsely maligned election reform efforts.
Summary
Texas is on the verge signing into law major reforms to voting rules, including the elimination of “drive-thru voting” and changes to polling hours and Sunday voting.
- The bill, passed the state Senate early Sunday morning before heading to the House, will “empower partisan poll watchers” who will have greater ability to oversee polling places.
- Texas is among several states to pass new election and voting reform laws in the wake of the 2020 election, including Arizona, Florida, and Georgia, the latter of which prompted a failed boycott of business interests in the state.
- President Biden criticized the bill, saying it was “part of an assault on democracy.”
- Criticism of the bill abounded in The New York Times’ coverage, which relied on quotes from the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and statistics from “voting rights groups” which call Texas already one of the most difficult states in which to vote.
- CNN lumped criticism of the bill into an analysis criticizing Republican politicians at every level, comparing the Texas legislation with the U.S. Senate’s failure to approve an independent commission to investigate the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol.
- The Washington Post also framed the legislation as restrictive and relied almost solely on “nonpartisan” criticism before drawing comparisons to Georgia’s voting reform law which was falsely maligned by the mainstream media.
- The San Antonio Current reported on a “voting rights group” blackmailing companies it says is “remaining silent” on the legislation.
- Fox News’ coverage was the mirror opposite of The New York Times and Washington Post, highlighting remarks from the bill’s sponsor saying “the Constitution commands the legislature to pass legislation to attack fraud and to preserve the purity of the ballot box.”
- Earlier this month, MarketWatch reported on dozens of companies coming out publicly to criticize the proposed legislation but “stopped short” of formally opposing it.
- The New York Post emphasized President Biden’s blasting of the bill, which it called a “compromise version” being threatened by federal legislation “stalled in the US Senate” “meant to undo” reforms such as Texas’.
Author’s Take
Given the horribly biased coverage of Georgia’s voting reform law from earlier this year, and the backtracking several outlets had to do after parroting talking points from the DNC and so-called “nonpartisan” groups, one would think the mainstream media had learned its lesson.
No, it still cries wolf at every opportunity, knowing it can quietly retract later. Whether Texas’ legislation is as “bad” as they say is irrelevant now. Americans should be skeptical of media coverage on election reform after the Georgia debacle.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2021
