When is news that’s not news still news? When KEYE-TV’s Nanci Wilson ran a story last night on state representatives caught in voting violations. It’s not the what, it’s the who and when that makes this so delicious.
All weekend the CBS affiliate had been trailing this package – that state reps press the voting buttons for each other when another rep is off the floor. It’s not good and violates the spirit of the House rules (it’s not good and can be punished at the whim of the House – it’s just they don’t seem to have that whim). Everyone knows it happens, and while they may not approve, it’s less than shocking.
So why run it? Because CBS 42 knows what schadenfreude means.
It was an arch swipe at Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Houston, who was caught on camera pressing buttons for other, absentee reps. That looks bad for her, since she’s spent all session championing what are euphemistically called tighter rules for voter registration. She’s down as an author on House Bill 218, HB 626, and HB 101 – three of the big voter-suppression (sorry, that should be “voter identity verification”) bills currently being pushed through the Lege. HB 218 requires voters to provide a voter-registration certificate and is now on the Senate floor; HB 626 requires a citizen present a birth certificate, citizenship papers, or a passport before they can register to vote and is being heard over in the Senate State Affairs Committee. Fortunately, HB 101, which would have required voters to provide three forms of ID at the polling place, never made it out of committee.
Nice work, Nanci. Check out their Web site to watch Riddle trying to squirm out of that one.
This article appears in May 11 • 2007.
