City of Austin Establishes Let Texas Vote Day!

While the politicians in charge of our state government continue to do everything they can to make it harder for certain Texans to vote – some local leaders like Austin Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza are doing exactly the opposite.

Council Member Garza recently introduced a resolution establishing a LET TEXAS VOTE DAY!!

(Obviously we LOVE the name she chose)

Common Cause Texas Deputy Director Amanda Gnaedinger testifying in favor of the Let Texas Vote Day resolution

Our own Amanda Gnaedinger was on hand to testify in support of the resolution before it passed unanimously.

The resolution reads in part:

“The first Tuesday following the first Monday in November of each year beginning in 2020 shall be known as in the City as Let Texas Vote Day to encourage voting and civic engagement, and to honor the sacrifices and struggle for the right to vote throughout the history of the United States and Texas to the present day.”

Here are a few of the things the resolution does:

Legislative Advocacy

The city manager shall add to Austin’s state and federal legislative agendas a list of pro-voting reforms – including many of the reforms we’re advocating for at LetTexasVote.org – things like:

  • Online voter registration
  • Same-day and automatic voter registration
  • Placing polling places on college campuses
  • Expansion of the countywide polling program
  • Voting rights restoration
  • Ending voter suppression

Study Making Let Texas Vote Day a Paid City Holiday

The city manager shall present to council several options for amending the city’s personnel policies to establish Let Texas Vote Day as a paid holiday.  

Calling Out Voter Suppression

Finally, the resolution went into great detail to call out the lengthy pattern of voter suppression we’ve seen in Texas from our earliest days as a state to as recently as this year. From poll taxes and whites-only primaries to literacy tests and voter roll purges.

Let Texas Vote Day is obviously our new favorite holiday and we could not be more grateful to the Austin City Council Members who sponsored this resolution — Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza, Council Member Paige
Ellis, Council Member Ann Kitchen, Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, and Council Member Gregorio Casar.

And to the members who spoke passionately in support of it, including Council Members Harper-Madison, Pio Renteria and Jimmy Flannigan.

This is precisely the kind of bold leadership on voting rights we need more of in Texas .

And to that end – we’re adding to our to-do list — work on getting Let Texas Vote Day Holidays established by more cities & counties all over Texas!