Public Interest Law & Advocacy

Voting Rights and
Campaign Finance Reform

After practicing primarily as a personal injury lawyer for most of his career, Dave has recently been dedicating much of his time, pro bono, to advocacy and lobbying on behalf of non-partisan organizations acting to protect the public interest in the area of voting rights, campaign finance reform and government ethics. He is currently the President of “Clean Elections Texas”, a non-profit and non-partisan organization that advocates on these issues. He has become particularly concerned about the impact of large financial donors on our elections and political system – and the potentially corrupting influence of unlimited “money in politics.” Consequently he has become active as an advocate in various anti-corruption and campaign finance reform efforts.

The photo below was taken of Dave Jones at the podium addressing a press conference on behalf of a coalition of anti-corruption groups advocating for stronger ethics legislation during a recent session of the Texas legislature.

David E Jones the State of Texas

Fair Maps

Clean Elections Texas is part of a coalition of organizations called “Fair Maps Texas” dedicated to fighting for a fair process for drawing legislative, congressional and other political district lines to elect our democratic representatives; opposing racial discrimination and partisan “gerrymandering”. Dave has been an active advocate for “fair maps” for several years.

fair maps texas logo

Important Current Issues

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

88th Session Texas Legislature:

I. Redistricting Legislation – Re Existing Districts & Misc.

  1. SB 375 – Huffman – Senate Redistricting (ratification of existing districts) – OPPOSE
  2. HJR 50 – Patterson – Creating a “District of Austin” as seat of government – OPPOSE

II. Redistricting Transparency and Procedure Legislation

  1. HB 2294 — Talarico – Procedures for Transparency, Disclosure and Public Involvement in any Redistricting Legislation

III. Redistricting Legislation – Redistricting Commission Proposals

  1. HJR 4 – Talarico – Constitutional Amendment creating Ind. Redistricting Comm.
  2. HB 21 – Talarico – Enabling Legislation for Texas Ind. Redistricting Comm.
  3. HJR 15 – Howard – Constitutional Amendment creating Ind. Redistricting Comm.
  4. HB 731 – Howard – Enabling Legislation for Texas Inc. Redistricting Comm.
  5. HJR 48 – Goodwin – Constitutional Amendment creating Ind. Redistricting Comm.
  6. HB 693 – Goodwin – Enabling Legislation for Texas Ind. Redistricting Comm.
  7. SJR 16 – Menendez/Eckhardt – Constitutional Amendment creating Ind. Redistricting Comm.
  8. SB 115 – Menendez/Eckhardt – Enabling Legislation for Texas Ind. Redistricting Comm.
  9. SJR 12 – Johnson – Constitutional Amendment creating Ind. Redistricting Comm. (identical to HJR 15 by Howard)(no enabling legislation filed)
  10. SJR 8 – Zaffirini – Constitutional Amendment creating Redistricting Comm. (Legislature determines composition)
  11. SB 69 – Zaffirini – Enabling Legislation for Redistricting Comm. (Bi-partisan legislative appointment of citizens)
  12. HJR 83 – Anchia – Constitutional Amendment creating Redistricting Comm. (Bi-Partisan legislative appt., incl. 2 retired federal judges) (no enabling legislation)

IV. Campaign Finance Reform Legislation

  1. HB 1245 – Goodwin – Campaign Contribution Limits (<50 times FECA contribution limit)
  2. HB 47 – Zweiner – Campaign Contribution limits ($5,000 per indiv.; $10,000 per PAC; $10,000 per general purpose PAC for statewide judicial, $5,000 per other judicial)
  3. HB 490 – Meza – Campaign Contribution limits per election; anti-independent expenditure coordination provisions; criminal penalties ($8,000 for Gov.; $6,300 other statewide; $4,600 for Senate; $3,100 for House; $34,500 per year to any candidate by gen. purpose PAC)
  4. HB 489 – Meza – Contribution limits for gubernatorial appointees ($2,500 anti-“pay-to-play” in year before appointment; treble damages civil penalty)
  5. HB 1519 – Ashby – Adds a ban on political contributions during a special session

V. Voting Rights and Election Law Legislation Texas Tracker (Voting Rights Lab)

  • (Too numerous to list – Voting Rights Lab – has comprehensive list)
  1. Link to most current Voting Rights Lab tracker: https://tracker.votingrightslab.org/states/texas

 

Important National Voting Rights and Campaign Finance Reform Issues:

  1. H.J. Res. 13, Democracy for All Amendment  This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment authorizing Congress and the states to (1) regulate and impose reasonable viewpoint-neutral limitations on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections; and (2) regulate and enact public campaign financing systems, including those designed to restrict the influence of private wealth by offsetting the raising and spending of money by candidates and others with increased public funding. (Rep. Schiff, 103 cosponsors)
  2.  H.R. 4 (117th Congress), John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021;

    Passed House (08/24/2021)(Filibuster in the Senate) 

    **Not yet filed in 118th Congress** 

    This bill establishes new criteria for determining which states and political subdivisions must obtain preclearance before changes to voting practices may take effect. Preclearance is the process of receiving preapproval from the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before making legal changes that would affect voting rights.

    A state and all of its political subdivisions shall be subject to preclearance of voting practice changes for a 10-year period if

    • 15 or more voting rights violations occurred in the state during the previous 25 years;
    • 10 or more violations occurred during the previous 25 years, at least 1 of which was committed by the state itself; or
    • 3 or more violations occurred during the previous 25 years and the state administers the elections.

    A political subdivision as a separate unit shall also be subject to preclearance for a 10-year period if three or more voting rights violations occurred there during the previous 25 years.

    States and political subdivisions that meet certain thresholds regarding minority groups must preclear covered practices before implementation, such as changes to methods of election and redistricting.

    Further, states and political subdivisions must notify the public of changes to voting practices.

    Next, the bill authorizes DOJ to require states or political subdivisions to provide certain documents or answers to questions for enforcing voting rights.

    The bill also outlines factors courts must consider when hearing challenges to voting practices, such as the extent of any history of official voting discrimination in the state or political subdivision.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

Current Important Issue Video: