Texas Senate gives OK to make illegal voting a felony

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The Texas Senate on Monday gave initial approval to legislation that would raise the penalty for voting illegally from a misdemeanor to a felony, a priority for Texas’ Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other conservative lawmakers who have worked to remake the state’s voting laws since the 2020 election.

If the bill becomes law, a person found guilty of the crime could face up to 20 years in prison and more than $10,000 in fines.

The debate on the floor Monday between Democratic lawmakers and state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, the bill’s author, focused heavily on what constitutes illegal voting. Lawmakers disagreed over whether, under the bill, a person who mistakenly votes illegally could be prosecuted. Democrats pointed to examples such as a person who knows they have been convicted of a felony but does realize that makes them ineligible to vote; or a person who knows they are not a U.S. citizen but does not know that makes them ineligible.

Some Democratic lawmakers told Hughes they were worried such voters would be prosecuted for “innocent mistakes.”

“I just would ask you to consider the unintended consequences of your proposal,” state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, told Hughes. “We’re all against voter fraud. But to give it the gravity that you are today really frightens some of us who have worked with voters that are just not going to be as informed as perhaps you assume they are, such as someone coming off of parole, such as a 17-year-old high school student.”

Others asked Hughes if he believed increasing the penalty would deter voters from casting a ballot. “What voters are you talking about?” Hughes said. “The goal is to deter illegal votes. Let me be very clear, yes, I want to deter illegal votes no matter who they’re for or against.”

Hughes repeatedly defended the bill and said that individuals would be prosecuted only if they “knowingly and intentionally” voted illegally. Republican state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, reiterated that a prosecutor would take into account all circumstances.

Hughes also repeated the refrain that the bill was not a “radical change to the law.”

“We are restoring the law to what it was,” he said. “It makes sense. It’s consistent with other criminal statutes.”

Senate Bill 2 comes just two years after the Legislature downgraded the penalty for illegal voting from a second degree felony to a Class A misdemeanor after it had been a felony for nearly 50 years. That change was a small part of an omnibus voting bill and largely went unnoticed until after Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill into law.

In 2021, Patrick said the “last minute” change should be corrected. This year, he added SB2 to his list of legislative priorities. The bill is one of several that were filed by Republican lawmakers in both chambers with the same intent.

State Rep. David Spiller, R-Jacksboro, who filed a bill similar to SB2 in the House, said in January that the higher penalties were needed to “ensure that we have safe and secure elections.”

There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Texas.

Voting rights advocates and some Democratic lawmakers worry that reinstating the felony charge will create voter intimidation, dissuading some voters from casting a ballot at all.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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