HAYS DEMOCRATS DENOUNCE ISAAC POLLING PLACE BILL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 20, 2023

State Representative Files Bill Taking Direct Aim At College Students

San Marcos, TX——The Hays County Democratic Party strongly condemns the actions of Texas State Representative Carrie Isaac (R) in her recent attack on young Americans’ rights to vote in Texas by introducing H.B. 2390, a bill that would make it difficult—-to virtually impossible—-for students in Texas to vote.

House Bill 2390 bans counties from providing ballot boxes on college and university campuses in Texas.  Students would have to travel outside their place of work, worship, study and home in order to exercise their constitutional right to vote and voice.

Many Universities today, function like small cities accommodating and housing  thousands upon thousands of students, faculty, employees, peripheral businesses and more—-all in a central location.  Many are larger than many small towns and basically function like small towns.  As a result, many students do not have nor need cars to travel outside the university network because their university is their town.

Traditionally, polling locations are spread throughout the state in every county and town.  They are designed to accommodate communities and large groups of people in central locations.  They are placed in every county, where people live and work, like churches, schools and community centers.  The goal is to make voting easier and more accessible for everyone, not make it more difficult.

Representative Isaac is clearly going in the wrong direction with H.B. 2390.

This is not the first time Hays County Republicans have tried to suppress Texas State Students from voting.  In 2018, in a secret email to Republicans supporters, a Hays County Republican leader urged people to contact the Republican members of the Hays County Commissioner Court to oppose adding additional days for early voting on the Texas State campus.  The 4-1 Republican-controlled Commissioners Court had limited early voting on campus to three days, causing waiting times as long as 3 hours.   At the time, Texas State’s enrollment was greater than 38,000 students.

Five years ago, Wally Kinney, the President of the North Hays County GOP, told the Republican-controlled Commissioners Court to deny the request for additional days to vote on campus.  In a secret email to Republicans, Kinney stated, “If we change the rules, it favors Democrats…and we don’t want that.”

When Carrie Isaac was a candidate, she ran ads claiming she would be a ‘Champion of Free Speech on College Campuses.”

But today, after her election, Representative Isaac immediately turns her back on her constituents and proposes H.B. 2390, a bill that suppresses young voters’ voice by banning voting boxes on college campuses. 

The Bill denies accessibility and stands in the way of democracy and the right to vote  and is nothing short of a clumsy and nasty attempt by Isaac and the GOP to suppress young voters’ voice and constitutional right to participate in the democratic process in Texas.   

The Hays County Democrats are united in strongly condemning Representative Isaac’s unconstitutional proposal in H.B. 2390 and urge Representative Isaac to focus her attention on helping Texans where the need presents, not on looking for ways to silence and suppress the voice of our youngest voters.

We also encourage House Speaker Phelan to set this Bill in committee and urge the committee to place this bill front-and-center for a hearing, so that students from Isaac’s home county and from across Texas can come to the Capitol to let their voice be heard.  

Will Isaac file a bill to ban that as well?

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