This is a subtle yet callous form of voter suppression in Texas

Voter suppression in Texas is an art-form (Updated at the end)

A dear friend called me while doing her civic duty. She was using Facebook to direct people to register to vote for the next election in Texas. She directed them to the Texas Secretary of State website to find out if they were registered or not. As shown in the image above, that portion of the site is disable.

From the Texas Secretary of State website.

Election Outlook: October 5, 2015 is the last day to register to vote for the November 3, 2015 Constitutional Amendment Election.  |  What’s on the Ballot  |  Voter information  |  Don´t have a photo ID for voting? Election Identification Certificates are available from DPS offices.

Maintenance Notice: The “Am I Registered” application will be temporarily unavailable from Friday, October 2 at noon until Monday, October 5, at 8:00 a.m. due to system updates. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.

It is well known that near voter registration deadlines many organization use that urgency to encourage many who believe their vote won’t count to engage in the body politic and register. What’s suspect if not dubious at best is that the deadline to register is October 5th, 2015. And when is that function going to be available again? October 5th, 2015.

Make sure you spread the word. Tell folks to register whether they believe they are registered or not. Fill out and download the form and walk it in or mail it in now.

While this may seem like a Texas issue only, it is not. Texas is but a testing ground for many voter suppression techniques, procedures to suppress the questioning of corrupt government, and much more. If it is not already being effected in your state, just wait a while as it will get there faster than you can get to the next election.

UPDATED 2015-10-4 12:48 PM CT: Texas voters please listen up. I just received the following update

Michelle Michon The problem is the application is unavailable to print out. In order to register for the November election, you’ll have to do it in person. The request to have the application to be sent to you will not help you to be registered in time for the upcoming election. ******* You can register in person at your county Voter Registrar’s office. (In most Texas counties, the Tax Assessor-Collector is also the Voter Registrar. In some counties, the County Clerk or Elections Administrator registers voters.)

Or you can register by mail by obtaining an application from your county Voter Registrar’s office or the Secretary of State’s office. You can also pick up applications at libraries, government offices, or high schools. Find out more here: http://www.votetexas.gov/register-to-vote/where-to-get-an-application-2.

UPDATED 2015-10-4 3:36 PM CT: A dear friend in Northeast Texas just spoke to a friend who is a Republican former registrar for their county. She placed us in contact with each other. I am withholding his name because of privacy concerns. He said that they all received a notice that the system would have been down a week previous. He said as such it was not any attempt at voter suppression. I told him that even if it was a coincidence that the ‘power outage’ he was told was scheduled, the fact that it occurred on the last weekend Texans can register for the next election seemed at best suspect. Moreover an easy very obvious link should have been provided with a simple download form with instructions. This would have eliminated any justifiable suspicions. The former registrar has since provide this link for Texans to use (https://webservices.sos.state.tx.us/vrapp/index.asp) to register. The form must still be mailed in and must be post marked by the end of the day tomorrow (Oct 5th, 2015). BTW, this was the same link that was non-functional this morning. Why the continued suspicion? When the party in charge lies about a nonexistent voter fraud problem in order to justify an unneeded, unwarranted, and discriminatory Voter ID law, one cannot help but to be suspicious. When a Party allows a gun license as a form of ID and not a student ID one cannot help but to be suspicious.