Whoa, I didn’t see this coming. Thanks go to Galveston County Tax Assessor Collector Cheryl Johnson for alerting the public to some serious consequences arising from an injunction issued by Federal District Judge Gregg Costa. You can read her entire press release by clicking here but this is the relevant (and scary) portion:

 

A volunteer deputy registrar is authorized to both distribute and accept voter registration applications.  The Court has recently determined that these volunteers may make a copy of your application.  Thus, any person completing an application at a voter registration drive needs to be aware that handing that application back could result in your personal information being retained by the volunteer or their organization.

Wow. Are you kidding me? The judge allowed copies to be made of your voter registration information? Have you ever seen some of the people that these groups pull in from around the country for these drives? Holy schmoly, Batman!

What makes the identity theft possibility even more plausible is that the judge also removed the requirement that volunteer deputy voter registrars must live in Texas. Why is that important? Because the residency requirement allowed Texas officials to run criminal background checks. Again, have you seen some of the people that are brought in from out of state to conduct these drives? Unbelievable.

Attorney General Abbott tried to get the judge to issue a stay on his ruling until it could be appealed but the judge refused. So even if Abbott is eventually successful at the Fifth Circuit, damage will already have been done.

I will note that Judge Costa is new to the bench, having been appointed by President Obama  in September 8, 2011 on the recommendation of both Texas US Senators Hutchison and Cornyn. Judge Costa was confirmed by the Senate on November 2, 2011. And he’s young – expect rulings like this for years to come.

Again, many thanks to Cheryl Johnson for her continued advocacy on behalf of voters. I truly wish that all elected officials had her zeal for voter and taxpayer rights.