Texas seen last in voting

AUSTIN — If Texans abide by the mantra, “if you don't vote, don't complain,” they should be the least-complaining bunch in the nation.

Texas ranked 51st in voter turnout in 2010 — behind the other states and Washington D.C. — and 49th in the number of citizens who contact public officials, according to the study released by the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at the University of Texas at Austin and the National Conference on Citizenship.

The state's slacking continues when it comes to civic participation rates, ranking 43rd in donating and 42nd in volunteering, according to the Texas Civic Health Index.

“Some of the numbers are really surprising — maybe even shocking,” said journalism Professor Regina Lawrence, director of the Annette Strauss Institute.

She pointed in particular to figures showing that 61.6 percent of voting-eligible Texans reported being registered to vote in 2010 but just 36.4 percent reported voting.

That means a “really active one-third” of the voting-eligible population is exerting “outsized influence, if you will, on the future of the state,” she said.

The study gathered data primarily from the 2011 U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey on Voting, Volunteering and Civic Engagement.

Lawrence said participation is linked to education, with the most educated people most likely to be engaged.

She said Texas' comparatively noncompetitive elections also may play a role, since Republicans are so dominant that people may not feel they have as much of an incentive to get involved.

An example of an effort that has increased voter participation in other states, but not passed here, is same-day registration, allowing qualified people to register and vote on election day, she said.

More Information Texas rankings 51st in voter turnout in 2010, behind the other states and the District of Columbia. 61.6 percent of Texans reported being registered to vote in 2010 36.4 percent reported voting Voting gap 43.8percentof Anglo Texans reported voting in 2010 That compared with 38.7 percent of African Americans and 23.1 percent of Hispanics.

Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson called the study a “very good compilation” of the data.

Jillson contended that Texas hasn't made a real effort to drive voter registration or turnout, and has tamped down participation through an aggressive purge of voter rolls, a redistricting plan found to intentionally discriminate against minorities and passage of a voter ID law that also has been blocked as discriminatory.

Jillson said those efforts, pushed by the GOP majority, keep voting low among those least likely to vote and also least likely to support Republicans — Hispanic and African American voters.

“Texas is a red state, and so the Republican Party has relatively little interest in actively working to increase voter registration among minorities, who tend to vote principally for Democrats,” Jillson said.

His point coincided with a furor over remarks made by a tea party leader in Dallas, Ken Emanuelson, who in an audio clip (which was publicized and labeled “disgusting” by the Democratic Battleground Texas) said the GOP “doesn't want black people to vote if they're going to vote nine to one for Democrats.”

Emanuelson later said in a statement that he was expressing a personal opinion and has no authority in the GOP.

He said his opinion is that it's not in the GOP's interest to increase the number of Democratic voters, but he also believes the party should build bridges to all communities.

Republican Party of Texas Chairman Steve Munisteri said the GOP has spent time and money on outreach and turnout in the Hispanic community that's focused on Republicans.

“My own personal view is it's immoral to ignore whole communities,” Munisteri said — and it's not good politics, either. “We cannot win elections in this state without Hispanic voters.”

Democratic consultant Hector Nieto said involvement will increase when people are informed, citing as an example a successful effort by Democratic lawmakers in the recent regular session to force the GOP majority to restore more of the funding cut from public schools.

“It's issues like that, that will get people motivated,” Nieto said.