Austin, TX, Release: March 25, 2021 For Immediate Release
Below is Chairman West’s testimony to the Texas House Elections Committee in support of HB 6. Our Chairman understands the paramount importance of fortifying our electoral process.
Chairman West’s Testimony:
Rep. Cain and members of the Texas House Elections Committee, I humbly rise before you in support of House Bill 6 on Election Integrity authored by Rep. Briscoe Cain.
Election integrity is the number one legislative priority of the Republican Party of Texas. It should, without a doubt, be the number one legislative priority for the entire country. It is imperative that our state, Texas, enacts the strongest guidelines and laws for ensuring that we execute honest and fair elections in the Lone Star State.
The lessons of the November 2020 election cycle must be learned and corrected. We can ill afford to allow a repeat of unconstitutional actions and violations of election law to invade our democratic system of conducting elections.
At this moment, we should all be concerned with the passage of US House of Representatives HR 1. This unconstitutional piece of legislation would codify into law all the illegal practices that we endured in our last election cycle.
First of all, the federal government has no enumerated power to take over or nationalize our elections. However, that is exactly what HR 1 seeks to accomplish. If passed by the US Senate, Texas would find itself being told that universal mail-in ballots are the standard across America. We will see such abhorrent practices as ballot harvesting be law, along with same day voter registration and voting as well as online voter registration. Texas will be told that we cannot review voter registration rolls and that voter ID will be against the law in America.
These are just some of the examples as to why we need to pass HB 6 out of committee and get a vote on the Texas House floor.
There are those who state that HB 6 and Republicans are seeking to advance voter suppression. Our response is that the levels of voter fraud and unconstitutional actions that we witnessed are the main causes of voter suppression for all Texans. We must re-assert State sovereignty when it comes to our electoral system.
Case in point: former Harris County Clerk, Chris Hollins, was in clear violation of Texas election law when he attempted to mail out over 2.5 million unsolicited ballots. There is a clear delineation between the standards of absentee voting and this absurd practice of mail-in balloting.
Also, Mr. Hollins established nine different “curbside voting” locations in Harris County in defiance of Texas election law. This type of behavior — violating the rule of law — must have consequences, and that is what HB 6 seeks to enact.
I served 22 years in our US Army and we fought to enable people in foreign lands to have safe, free, honest, and fair elections. We should not have to fight to do the same here in Texas, in America. Election laws must never be changed, amended, or disregarded by any elected official or members of the executive and judicial branches. That is an enumerated power, right, that resides with the legislative branch.
I humbly ask that the Texas House Elections Committee unanimously pass HB 6 out of committee and begin the restoration of trust and confidence of Texans in our election system.”
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