The Texas Legislature has moved one step closer to once again making illegal voting a felony. Senate Bill 2 passed the Senate on its third and final reading Tuesday afternoon by a party-line vote and now moves to the House.
SB 2's author is Senator Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola. Hughes stressed repeatedly during the debate over the bill that illegal voting had been a felony for nearly 50 years before the 2021 omnibus elections bill changed it to Class A felony, and he argued SB 2 merely restored the previous status quo.
"When we think about illegal voting, I think we all agree that that's a big deal," Hughes said, "that that vote, that franchise is precious and ought to be treated that way."
In addition to making illegal voting a second-degree felony, if passed, SB 2 would also change the current requirement that people need to know they’re breaking the law in order to be charged, a requirement referred to in legal terms as "mens rea."
"I'm concerned that by taking the mens rea out, the knowing requirement, we're going to run the risk of criminalizing (non-criminal behavior) and therefore deter people from wanting to vote,” said Senator José Menéndez, D-San Antonio.
Senator Bryan Hughes, the bill's author, responded to Democratic objections with an analogy. "Under the law today, if I break into your house and I take your stuff – and I intentionally know it's your house, I'm taking your stuff – and I'm convicted, I'm guilty of the crime of burglary. I don't have to know that burglary is against the law. I just have to know that I came in your house, broke in your house, and took your stuff," Hughes said.
The argument didn't sway any of the 12 Democratic senators. Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, said, "You may end up convicting a lot of innocent people that had no intention, no evil mind, to commit a crime."
But Hughes' argument carried all of the chambers' 19 Republicans. Senator Joan Huffman, R-Houston, was skeptical that SB 2 would lower the standard for guilt and sweep up large numbers of voters who did not intend to break the law. She pointed to language in the bill that indicated a person would need to know when they voted "of a particular circumstance that makes the person not eligible to vote."