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For Immediate Release December 8, 2021 Contact: Linda Curtis, 512.213.4511 Bastrop, Texas, December 8, 8:00 am : The filing deadline for candidates to declare their intention to run in the 2022 election for federal, state, and county office is Monday, December 13. If any candidate seeking to run on any party line or independent misses the December 13 deadline, they will be ruled ineligible. But the Texas Secretary of State's Office has long suppressed the filings for minor party and independent (no party) candidates until well after the filing deadline, requiring a public information request. The following letter was sent to the Secretary of State from the nonpartisan, nonprofit League of Independent Voters of Texas (LIV) yesterday, December 7. The letter lays out why this practice is discriminatory. Mark Miller, an Advisory Board Member of LIV, said: "On the filing deadline, Monday, December 13, Texans will know who is seeking the nomination of the Democratic or Republican parties, but they will have to wait to hear about their independent and minor party candidate options. This is just one of many ways the major parties continue to rig the game." Appended below is the letter sent on December 7, Pearl Harbor Day. We hope Texas media can help end this discriminatory practice in memory of those who lost their lives for our democratic republic. #. League of independent Voters of Texas PO Box 651• Bastrop, TX 78602 • 512.213.4511 • www.LIVTX.org DELIVERED VIA EMAIL December 7, 2021 Secretary of State of Texas, John Scott, Secretary of State of Texas Adam Bitter, General Counsel, Public Information Officer Re: Discriminatory application of candidate filing public disclosure Dear Secretary Scott and Mr. Bitter: We write to you today on behalf of the League of Independent Voters of Texas, a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501c4 organization whose mission is to win competitive elections in Texas. We have spoken with SOS Staff Attorney, Mr. Chuck Pinney. If Mr. Pinney feels anything is being misconstrued in this letter, we stand to be corrected. I am requesting timely filings of notices by all candidates to run in the 2022 election. As you know, the deadline to file such notice is December 13th. The portal for this information readily available to the public is at https://candidate.texas-election.com/Elections/getQualifiedCandidatesInfo.do . Our problem is that only filings by major party candidates are reported on this portal. Though the portal appears on a dropdown tab to report candidates for all parties, including Libertarians, Greens as well as unaffiliated independents (no party), no such information for anyone other than major party candidates is made available through the portal. I requested information in whatever form, whether through the portal or via email. Mr. Pinney suggested I file a public information request. I am doing this now, via this letter as it is our understanding that Mr. Bitter is also the Public Information Officer for SOS. That said, we do not feel a public information request is appropriate. Waiting the 10 days you have to fulfill this request is inappropriate and discriminatory. I was told by Mr. Pinney that the failure to report all candidate filings is intentional because the candidates not running in the primary are not "really running” until they file their signatures with your office due in May. This is clearly not the case for minor party candidates, who must pay a filing fee to be considered by their respective parties at conventions long before May. You may know that discriminatory ballot access requirements are the subject of a federal lawsuit pending in federal court ( Miller v. Doe 1:19-cv-00700 ) filed by the Center for Competitive Democracy. In light of this litigation, we would like to know if your position that minor party and independent candidates “aren’t really running” means you support the lawsuit’s intention to eliminate the unduly early filing deadline for minor parties and independent candidates. You cannot have it both ways. Either you timely report all the candidates or you eliminate the requirement that independents and minor parties file along with the majors in December. We appreciate Mr. Pinney calling us within 24 hours of our contact with your office. We hope to quickly hear from his superiors or the Secretary of State quickly. Thank you for your cooperation. Linda Curtis , Board Member League of independent Voters of Texas Cc: Chuck Pinney, Staff Attorney SOS Christina Atkinds, General Law SOS Whitney Bilyeu, Chair, Libertarian Party of Texas Laura Palmer, Co-Chair, Green Party of Texas Hurter Wayne Crow, Interim Co-Chair, Green Party of Texas

Matt McConaughey recently made his unsurprising announcement that he would not be running for Governor. With no political experience and putting his career and family at risk, we don't blame him. McConaughey said something vital to us at LIV in his short video announcement . We got a kick out of his statement about Texas politics that "some things need fixing." That might be the understatement of the year, but we'll take it, Matt! We hope McConaughey figures out his best role yet if he's serious about fixing Texas politics. That could be to work the sidelines along with the millions of disenfranchised Texas voters -- Texas independents. McConaughey's fame, "bounty" and good looks put in the service of helping to mobilize the millions of Texans who do not party salute could upend GOP one-party rule that's literally killing us. The Gallup Poll has tracked independents since 2004. In October, Gallup had independents polling at 44% , far more than Democrats or Republicans. For crying out loud, Texas independents could be six to seven million strong. But who is will organize us? Maybe it is as it should be -- independents must organize ourselves. A New Party? Not looking likely but the filing deadline is December 13th. We do expect down-ballot independents for local, state, and federal seats. For now, independents may have to remain the swing voters. We just need to get a whole lot better at swinging to end one-party rule. That's that Texas GOP at the state level and machine (also called "corporate") Democrats in our large municipalities. Playing the Sidelines in 2022 -- Independent Texan Agenda The question of how to unite independent Texans without a party or the rich and famous is perplexing, just like the question our video posed to you last week. Watch, " Are We Still At War ?" LIV video now on LIV's home page . I helped to co-found LIV having been part of many glorious and failed independent experiments over the last 40 years. Failure has taught us much. We readily admit that mobilizing six to seven million independent Texans is easy to say but hard, and maybe even impossible, to do. But if we mobilize just 10% of Texas independents in the 2022 election, this could make independent voters kingmakers and topple King Greg. Texas GOP one-party rule is killing us, so perhaps you see my point. We really have no choice. This Is What One-Party Rule and a King Got Us: A Dangerously Broken Grid Without a Fix: The Texas energy grid remains unstable as we head into another potentially rough winter. King Greg says he won't let the grid fail again. Does that reassure you, after he accepted a $1M donation from the CEO of the company that profited most from the grid failure -- Kelcy Warren of Energy Transfer? Did you know that massive energy-sucking bitcoin mining is setting up shop in Central Texas? The $54 billion in profiteering off the grid's failure has yet to be clawed back for ratepayers. To take the cake are state officials who apparently could care less about the 700 related deaths, failing to so much as a call for an independent investigation. (See BuzzFeed, " The Graveyard Doesn't Lie ." Undermining local economies with subsidies abuse: Williamson County Officials gave citizens a three-day notice before they gave Samsung 90% property tax abatements for 20 years involving hundreds of millions of public dollars. This week Abbott bragged about what a great "deal" it is. Might we ask, for whom? See LIV Blog, " Samsung Subsidies: Skallawags Snookers " Monopolized elections: Statewide independents must gather 83,000 signatures in 30-60 days from voters who didn't vote in the primary. The Cost? Well over $1 million, guaranteeing that only the rich and famous can run. See this release . Austin Growth Machine Gone Wild: The Democratic Party "growth machine" -- is making Austin the most unaffordable community outside of California. The Texas GOP has only aided and abetted the problem. (More soon in LIV's Development Done Right section.) Get involved! Help LIV Develop the Independent Texan Agenda 2022! • Unrigging Election Rules for Independents and New Parties • Fixing the Grid with an Independent Citizen-led Commission • Protecting Texas Water • Ending Subsidies Abuse • Making Growth Pay for Itself RSVP for Monday's Forum • Dec. 6, 7 pm Take these five steps now to make us happy little independent elves: Watch the one-minute "Are We Still At War Video" on our home page and share it. Join and contribute to LIV here . Dues are as low as $10/year. Subscribe to LIV's YouTube page – it's free and post a comment) Like us on Facebook . Follow us on Twitter . We will be back shortly with lots more LIV News. Stay tuned, y'all. ICYMI: Visit our News blog . It's way more fun than shopping. And it's free!

Let me tell you a little story about how we got to this place as energy and water cutoffs are in the air as King Greg Abdicates. In the late 90s, I called on Austin voters to vote to put me on the City Council using my tongue-in-cheek slogan, “Linda for A Little Less Corruption.” It got me plenty of laughs and some unexpected votes. I was making calls to get out the vote during early voting, and Greg Abbott, then Texas Supreme Court Justice, picks up the phone. He says he already voted for me. I confess that since that incident, I’ve held a ray of hope for Greg Abbott. Harvey Kronberg’s first-rate piece in the June 1 Quorum Report about the Governor’s threats to withhold legislative pay and hold a summer special session on “voter integrity” legislation snapped me out of it. Maybe it was Kronberg’s irreverent second title: “Life would be simpler if you also defund the Judicial Branch, and oh, there is the matter of Legislative bribery.” So I was about to crown King Greg, but Donald Trump beat me to it. The Big Freeze and the Big Squeeze How did changing voting rules become an emergency item for a Texas special session when, despite what your legislators are telling you, the Legislature has NOT fixed the Texas energy grid? For crying out loud, they didn’t even have the decency to investigate the deaths!   (It was independent media, BuzzFeed, which had to conduct a real investigation to  tell us approximately 700 people perished . ) We agree with independent Bill King,  who calls this a coverup . By the way, this is a two-party coverup. Think about it: What if Texas Democrats had walked out by calling the Governor’s “voter integrity” claims for what they really are – a coverup for the abject failure of government to protect millions of Texans from the Big Freeze, to account for the loss of life and loathsome price gouging, as some deep pockets walked off with $50B? Instead, the politically incompetent Democratic Party insists on playing into the Governor’s hands by throwing their base the other side of the same red meat. Now, what do we have in store for the Governor’s oh-so-special session? More red meat  between the two parties as energy companies are now free to do cut-offs, and SAWS is rattling shut-off sabers. ( See Quorum Report, June 17, Energy Cutoffs ). The same two-party failure is unfolding now on the Big Squeeze – our out-of-balance water policy. Politicians in both parties are aware of the risks to critically important aquifers by Vista Ridge (the “San Antone Hose”) not 40 miles east of the Capitol Dome. Public hearings about the future of groundwater are underway (see  Events page ) . Show up at one and take notice as to which officials in your community are there…or not. Wake up, Texas. Meat and Potatoes for ALL Texans Let’s face it. Big Energy and Big Real Estate – and their hired gun lobbyists – are the real Kings and Queens of Texas. The real Kings and Queens called the shots for Rick Perry’s 2013 move to Texas campaign’ that accelerated a snowball already rolling down the hill – hyper-growth. You know you have hyper-growth when infrastructure (energy, water, and transportation) cannot keep pace with growth, including the costs. Austin is at the epicenter of our state’s addiction to hyper-growth. San Antonio is competing to build out a metroplex between them and make us all pay for it, including a diminishing quality of life. From 2008 to 2014, local Austin visionary developer Brian Rodgers and friends did all they could to warn Austin with concrete and doable solutions to “make growth pay for itself.” Their work was rejected for fear it might slow down growth (profits) — even just a little. Just like those who repeatedly warned about the grid failure starting in 2011, Rodgers and pals’ warnings were ignored. (See  LIV’s Costs of Growth Page to view some of Rodger’s incredible work .) The Good News We see little way out of this mess without a full-blown independent electoral revolt in Texas. The good news is if anyone is to be King or Queen around here, it’s going to be most of us Texans. We are neither just red nor blue. We are the royal color of purple. We created the League of Independent Voters to bring this vision to Texas: Policy, not politics • Fix problems — don’t make them. • Electoral competition, not chaos! Five years after I lost my city council race, Jay Leno read in his “Funny Headlines” bit, “Here’s this woman, Linda Curtis, running for City Council in Austin, Texas who says she wants  just a little less  corruption.” Big laugh. Today, here at LIV, we want a helluva a lot less corruption, and a helluva lot more meat and potatoes — no kidding. “ You and I own this country, and we are responsible for what happens to it.” Ross Perot, Texas independent. #specialsession #Trump #GregAbbott #DonaldTrump #Greg #RickPerry #Abbott

Short of another civil war, is it possible that the 40% of Americans who call themselves independents might have a peaceful way forward for all voters? Watch LIV's new 1-minute video. If you like it, pass it on and get ready for The Independent Agenda -- coming soon!

As our country mourns the dead and celebrates their uniqueness, we suggest you read this very personal and beautiful account of those who knew  “gentle giant”, George Floyd in Texas Monthly. Special thanks to Richard Winger (Ballot Access News & Center for Competitive Democracy) for his review of Lee Drutman’s revolutionary new book, “Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop.” Drutman’s proposals for fundamental restructuring of our electoral system may be required to heal and unite our country today. LIV is here to assist you in any way we can to exercise your right to vote in the July 14 primary runoffs and the only Special Election we’re aware of — Texas Senate District 14. We hope this article helps you understand your options for voting. And, we’re happy to report that 4 of the 6 candidates running for the Senate District 14 seat (for most of Travis County and all of Bastrop County), have filled out our in depth questionnaire. Let us know what you think — visit this page here . IMPORTANT UPCOMING EVENTS use the share buttons on each page This Thursday, June 4, 2 to 3 pm , Freedom of Information Foundation Webinar! The dea dline for Property Tax Protests this Friday , thanks to The Austin Bulldog. Wednesday, June 17, 6:30 – 7:30 pm , Conference Call “Putting the Public Back in Public Utilities.” Saturday, June 20, National Poor People’s March (digital — not in person) We are upgrading our site and all our work at LIV. We have a new page called “ Recommended ” for news sites, blogs and the like we especially appreciate. We also welcome your comments on any post and to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. MUST ALSO READS: Feeling Hopeless: Is there room for police reform? Grits for Breakfast As coronavirus hits Texas, the state’s top health chief is spending 30 hours a week on a second job [LCRA] — that pays $600,000 — thanks to the Texas Tribune. Congratulations in order to Austin Residents of Mobile Home Park who now own the property! Thanks to the Austin Monitor #LeeDrutman #TexasTribune #CenterforCompetitiveDemocracy #RichardWinger #TexasMonthly #TheAustinBulldog #BreakingtheTwoPartyDoomLoop #BallotAccessNews #AustinMonitor #GeorgeFloyd #SenateDistrict14

LIV caught a break this week in the Austin American-Statesman and USA Today with our commentary " We must strike a balance between conserving and pumping groundwater ." You would think that when it come to protecting that which we cannot live without -- water -- it might make it to the list of GOP priorities, right? Wrong. Their war against the Democrats was and remains the Governor's, Lt. Governor's and Texas GOP dominated Legislature's number one priority. What is the Legislature's (including both parties) really doing to protect groundwater and to stabilize the Texas energy grid -- following likely 700 deaths last February? The time will come for them all to have to answer this soon enough. The filing deadline for candidates is December 13th . Watch for the "Independent Agenda," coming soon. Texas independents can determine the outcome in this next election, though we hope to see more choices than two. No offense to our friends in both parties. But most Texans -- regardless of their political leanings -- see the need for electoral competition and more choices at the ballot box. Here's our email alert about this topic . We suggest you tune in to the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District meeting tomorrow night to see self-governance in action -- despite the Legislature's failure to lead.

LIV is committed to ending the war between the two parties that has the rest of us in their crossfire. Join us after you read these two articles! • Must read! Check out this Texas Tribune article, " Gun Rights Group Opposes Texas' abortion law, joins clinics in legal fight ." • Must read! Independent journalist, Glenn Greenwald," To Protect Fauci, The Washington Post is Preparing a Hit Piece on the Group Denouncing Gruesome Dog Experimentations . " The Water Wars in counties east of Austin heat up on Monday, Nov. 8, 6 pm at the Bastrop Convention Center. This is a specially called meeting by the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District. A decision about the "desired future condition," a planning tool for the aquifers, is expected. The Water Defenders at the Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund and Environmental Stewardship have produced this well-documented Must Read two-page report here to provide information to the Lost Pines Board and citizens alike. Y'all come! Click here for details about this important meeting.

Join us at our next First Monday Forum, Monday, Nov. 1, 7 pm. Click on our Events Page on our menu. LIV's efforts grow out of the most significant rupture in the two-party system in the 20th century led by the guy with the Texas twang and his charts in tow -- that was our greatest Texas independent, Ross Perot. His most important contribution, we believe, was shared in the letter we sent to Andrew Yang, appended below. Perot dared to create a new political party -- the Reform Party -- which died in court short years. But, most people who change history will tell you they learned more from their failures than their successes. For the few of us still around, we learned that which is contained in this famous Perot quote above and shared with the new generation attempting to break through the two-party system. Davy Crockett was a rock star in his time and famously without a "party hand-cuff." This coming Monday at 7 pm, LIV's First Monday Forum will be a strategy session focused on how candidates can un-cuff themselves from their party's orthodoxy for the 2022 election cycle. We'll discuss how to reach out to independent non-aligned voters, just as the candidate filing period opens on November 13th and ends in 30 days. LIV sent the following letter to Andrew Yang in c/o the Forward Party a week ago. Feel free to reach out yourself and suggest they work with LIV's agenda here in Texas. Dear Mr. Yang: We watched your recent interview on PBS and were inspired and elated! The League of Independent Voters of Texas is an all-volunteer 501c4 non-profit organization. Our small board is an amalgam of people from across the political spectrum who have been looking for a way forward to competitive elections. We have deep experience in various significant independent campaigns, third party efforts, and citizen ballot measures. This involvement includes the historic rupture with two-partyism led by Ross Perot. One of us was the chief organizer for the Reform Party of Texas and served on the party’s national committee. Several of us participated through and beyond the Reform Party’s heart-breaking demise in four short years. We wrote about it when Perot passed from this world in 2019 “ Ross Perot Memoriam from his grassroots: The Imperfect Insurgency .” As we mourned the death of the Reform Party, our involvement in the profound independent experiment kept us going. We refused to spend any time worrying about how little money we had. We did what we could by going local. We believe the Forward Party effort leading with electoral reform (rank-choice-voting and open primaries) is exciting and commendable. At the same time, we wonder if the horse might be before the cart? This is a question, not a critique. And the answer might be more like the horse and cart should be side-by-side. Perot’s 1992 campaign forged a mass independent electoral revolt. It was such a vast rupture we didn’t know what to do with it. Let us not forget that Perot was leading in the California primary at 45%. He was on his way to unbelievably winning the presidency when he abruptly dropped out. Perot’s message led with economic populism (the “crazy aunt in the basement,” aka, the federal debt and fair trade, anti-NAFTA). It was not long after that he articulated the need for electoral reform, especially campaign finance reform. The independent movement was still kicking in Texas in the 2006 Governor’s race. With two independents running, receiving a combined 31%, 40,000 more votes than the Democratic candidate assured us that Texas independents were ready and willing to vote independent. Rick Perry was reelected with only 39% of the vote. Inside the national parties, both the Obama 2008 rupture and the Trump 2016 rupture are instructional. Though quite different in their politics, both presidential campaigns carried a similar message: economic populism – the appeal to the grassroots, combined with political reform. When Barack Obama took the presidency, his campaign team had a rigorous debate about what to do with his grassroots volunteer organization (an amalgam of Democrats, Republicans, and independents) – Organizing for America (OFA). We wholeheartedly agreed with Obama’s ground game architect, Marshall Ganz, who lost the debate. Ganz urged that OFA remain an independent organization with independent leadership outside the presidency and the DNC. Ganz argued that this would provide the tension necessary to keep the Obama movement moving forward while Obama entered the government. In our view, the decision to house OFA under the DNC was one of, if not the failure of Obama that gave rise to the Trump movement and right-wing reshaping of economic populism and political reform. We also fear that leading with electoral reform is too sterile for it to galvanize a broad-based movement of the American people. Economic populism and political reform belong together. And an independent political movement and a party do too. Without this, it may not be possible to adequately mobilize the 40% of Americans who identify as independents. Again, these are questions we have. We’re sure you have noticed that Texas is in a terrible one-party lock-down following the aggressive gerrymander that was very recently completed by the Texas Legislature. The candidate filing deadline is on December 13. In essence, we are in a scramble, so we hope you will forgive us that we haven’t yet read your book. Though regretfully, Texas does not allow statewide measures by petition, we have been exercising municipal petition rights in Texas for years. Local measure petitions can reach folks living in home rule cities where the vast majority of Texans live. Taking the risk of the massive failure -- the Reform Party -- was Perot’s most significant contribution to America. It taught us some painful but invaluable lessons. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for taking the risk to move out of the two-party arrangement. In closing, we want to encourage you and work with you in any way we can. We hope to hear from you. Sincerely, Linda Curtis, Board Member & Co-founder Thanks to the work of Paul Robbins, and the Austin Bulldog, you can read this five-part series about the lack of trust in our energy grid that has spurred many folks to seek backup power at great expense. This link has links to all five articles. Though it is mind-boggling as to why certain items become amendments to the Texas constitution, we still encourage you to vote on the eight statewide constitutional amendments on your ballot. Early voting ends Friday, Oct. 29. Check the League of Women Voters Nonpartisan Voter Guide . If you want the deep dive, read the report by the House Research Organization . Election Day is Tuesday, November 2. Be sure to check out what else is on the ballot in your local area.

Much has been said about Ross Perot’s passing but little from his grassroots. That’s us at the League of Independent Voters who got up close enough to find long-lasting appreciation and love for Ross Perot. They – the insurgents – never are perfect. But the timing of his death was so like him. It was right on the money with new independent leadership (Amash, Cuban and others still working within the parties) emerging at the very moment of his passing. As we mourn, we must organize, y’all! Ross Perot was the right guy for the moment to sound the alarm about the “crazy Aunt in the basement.” She is, unfortunately, still locked there and getting crazier as each day passes. You see, there is still no one, inside the government or in any major party, who acknowledges her existence is a big problem. Her $4 trillion bloat in 1992 is $20 trillion today. And, if you believe David Stockman (on this we do), our nation is locked in to a $30 trillion debt over the next ten years. We would remind you that Perot’s imperfections were put on the world stage when he famously pulled out of the Presidential race heading into the 1992 California primary with 45% in the polls. It was months later when he reported concerns about his daughter. We felt his pain then and to this very day feel the anger at those who expressed disbelief. Still, volunteers across the country refused to accept Perot’s withdrawal and kept petitioning to get him on the ballot. In Texas, volunteers gathered far more than the needed 50,000 signatures in 60 days and filed 200,000 signatures. They posted signs on highways urging drivers to pull off at the next exit, and they did! The Perot-led rupture with two-partyism is understood by pundits in terms of its comparison to the electoral revolt of Teddy Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party. Yes, Perot was our Teddy — despite never having held office. Like Teddy, Perot’s populism and humor easily connected with ordinary people. But Perot could be as important a historical figure as Teddy Roosevelt for different reasons, if you believe history is determined more by what comes next. Perot, having invested over $100 million in the failed experiment also known as the Reform Party USA, took huge risks to prove (at least to us) that you cannot fit American independents into one political party. What we, at the grassroots went on to do, following the embarrassing implosion of the Reform Party with leaders struggling for the microphone on national television, was this. We refused to mourn and we kept organizing. Over the last 18 years, we have led a variety of experiments with “cross-partisan” organizing to begin to understand what can be done to unify Americans across party lines. For what purpose are we attempting to unify them? To wage a massive battle for electoral competition and innovation — outside the confines of parties, partisanship and stifling ideology. We see this as a prerequisite for real change to occur.  Perot’s passing could never come at a good time, but again Perot’s timing, just as new independent leadership is emerging inside and outside all parties, is remarkable. Michigan Congressman  Justin Amash’s announcement that he was leaving the GOP to become an independent was nearly simultaneous to Mark Cuban’s blistering talk about our nation’s finances. In our humble opinion, our biggest failure was our lack of investment in the development of the independent voter. We have been left far too vulnerable to the two major parties, which poll, push and label us as their swing voters, locking us in the “partisan death spiral” about which Amash laments. In our view, Perot’s greatest contribution was his willingness to participate in a grand experiment that failed. We would do well to follow the guy with the Texas twang and his famous charts in tow, by understanding the primary role of the politician is to educate us — not to polarize and politicize us. What is needed now is the continued voter education and the grand independent experiment, through an up-from-the-grassroots (not top-down) independent political movement to rise out of the ashes of failure. If we fail again, we’ll learn and keep learning in order to bring about innovation in the  democratic republic that America so desperately needs. Long Live the Spirit of Ross Perot! Imperfect Insurgents Unite! * The term “imperfect insurgency” was borrowed from longtime independent socio-economic planning practitioner, Fernando Centeno of San Antonio, Texas. #MarkCuban #RossPerot #ReformParty #DavidStockman #JustinAmash

Andrew Yang has been all over national media about this "break-up" with the Democratic Party. We suggest you watch this interview on Amanpour for a deep dive into Yang's new "Forward Party." What about Joe Straus and Lyle Larson? Will they jump in to run third party or independent? Check out this San Antonio Report opinion . RSVP for our next First Monday Forum, Nov. 1, 7 pm, " Who, what & how Texans can unite across party lines in 2022" We just sent this letter to Senator Kel Seliger, the beloved straight shooter Senator from the Texas Panhandle. They say there are more independents per square mile there than cows and cactus. Check out the gerrymandered district (SD 31) handed to Texas maverick, Kel Seliger by his own party, the Texas GOP. Dear Senator Seliger: We are reaching out to you from the non-profit voter association for non-aligned, independent voters -- the League of Independent Voters of Texas. Our founders have been involved in the independent political movement dating back to when political maverick Ross Perot sparked a massive independent electoral revolt in 1992. We have watched you for years and know you are also a treasured political maverick. Most political pundits will tell you that independent candidates cannot win elections. Under normal circumstances, it's hard to disagree with that. But these are not normal times. The Lt. Governor's abuse of the redistricting pen, especially in your district and against a fellow Republican beloved in his district, directly signals to all Texans that there is no room for political mavericks in the Texas GOP. Perhaps the good news is that he picked the wrong Texans to lord over. That is not only a statement about you. It is a statement about the people of West Texas -- the most independent-minded Texans. We write to implore you to consider filing to run for reelection as an independent. The Republican Party of Texas doesn't deserve you. Besides, as an open primary state, with the end to straight-ticket voting and the Texas GOP having forsaken the spirit of self-governance and local control, is it not time for another independent electoral revolt? There is no place better to spark the independent electoral revolt across the state than in your district. The Gallup Poll has tracked self-identified independent voters since 2004. We hold a plurality of about 40%. We believe that if you run as an independent, a majority in your district would follow you to declare their electoral independence. This would teach both parties to respect the voters they do not and cannot own. We know this is a lot to ask. But we believe our only hope for the democratic republic, which so many put their lives on the line for, is to teach the two parties they're not the only game in town. If you got this far, thank you for reading this letter. We hope to hear from you. With respect, Linda Curtis, Board Member, and Co-founder, LIV PS You may not remember this, but I want to thank you for voting with us the night before sine die in 2015. You helped us kill a last-minute maneuver by Senator Perry and others to thwart our efforts to protect our groundwater in Bastrop, Lee, Milam, and Burleson counties. We're on the same path as the Ogallala, thanks to Perry. Thanks to the work of Paul Robbins, Bill Aleshire and the Austin Bulldog, you can read this fourth in the Austin Bulldog's Five-Part Series on the increasing backup power systems installed in the Austin area . We all know that our Legislature has FAILED to fix the grid, right? Secure your home and get ready to THROW -- throw the hypocritical rascals out in 2022. BTW, THERE'S AN ELECTION HAPPENING! There are eight statewide constitutional amendments to vote on. Check the League of Women Voters Nonpartisan Voter Guide . If you want the deep dive, read the report by the House Research Organization . Early voting started Monday, Oct. 18, and ends on Oct. 29. Election Day is Tuesday, November 2. Be sure to check out what else is on the ballot in your local area. Click here to see LIV Beefs. RSVP for our next First Monday Forum, Nov. 1, 7 pm, "Who, what & how Texans can unite across party lines in 2022." Folks reading this: Was your district gerrymandered? Click here to contact LIV! Click here to join LIV. We're all volunteers, but this is how we pay the bills . :)

Release: "Texas Redistricting" Submits Compact Congressional Map Texas Redistricting Submits Compact Congressional Map Click here to view the map . Austin, Oct. 1, 2021 : Texas Redistricting – a citizen activist group whose 900 members advocate for redistricting reform introduced a district map proposal into the Legislature on Tuesday. Texas Congressional Compact Map 2020 stands in stark contrast to the “Huffman Plan” released by the Senate Special Committee on Redistricting last week. “The most compact districts on any political map in my 80 years as a Texan!” exclaimed redistricting reform advocate Fernando Florez. “No gerrymanders. As a veteran, the compact map honors my service.” Unlike the Huffman Plan, the “Compact Map” has no egregious snaking of precincts through metro areas. No packing and cracking of voters. One glance at the two maps quickly reveals the map where politicians have picked their voters. “Compact, contiguous, and proportional districts with minority representation were our guiding lights,” described Texas Redistricting mapper, Byrwec Ellison. “The Harvard and MIT experts at Dave’s Redistricting provided an excellent base map. We smoothed out precinct borders leftover from past gerrymandering, and now we invite all Texans to suggest improvements to our map.” Ellison elaborated, “The Compact respects the integrity of urban and rural counties. District borders are smooth, not characterized by jigsaw-shaped voting precinct boundaries. Urban centers are drawn in a rational manner.” “It gets even better,” interjected longtime political independent Jeff Harper. “We gave incumbent protection and seat maximization on behalf of any political party zero consideration in drafting the map. Yet as it turns out, the 16 solidly Republican seats with 13 solidly Democratic seats somewhat contours the 52% to 45% statewide Republican tilt in recent elections. Best of all from the vantage point of an independent, there are nine parity districts - in the 45-55% range of competitiveness – including two districts with a split less than 50-50. Competitiveness for a change!” Linda Curtis, a founder of the non-profit, non-partisan League of Independent Voters of Texas (LIV), explained, “Parity districts attract moderate independent candidacies, which in turn elevate the public dialogue. Unlike the rancorous partisans who occupy gerrymandered districts and polarize the public debate. Candidates in parity districts will face punishment at the ballot box if they do that. Independents fed up with opportunistic partisanship will not vote for the extremists.” To top it all off, there are 23 majority-minority districts out of 38 total congressional districts - 60 percent in a state with a minority population of about 57 percent, promising with regard to meeting Voting Rights Act requirements. Moderation with strong minority representation, perhaps the most elusive mapping objective of all. Yet the compact map clears the hurdle. Contact: Jeff Harper 512.999.2791, info@independentleaguetx.org The media is also invited to join an online forum sponsored by LIV with Board Member, Jeff Harper, and LIV Advisor, Mark Miller about the map and the redistricting special session on Monday, Oct. 4, 7 pm. The forum is sponsored by LIV. Please RSVP if you wish to attend. Media and community are invited to visit our Redistricting page at LIV.

Beto O'Rourke is expected to announce his bid for the Democratic nomination for Texas Goveror soon. Political pundit Matt Dowd just announced he's seeking the Democratic nomination for Lt. Governor. Many independents like Beto. However, we appreciate the sober analysis from Quorum Report's Harvey Kronberg, in " To Beat an increasingly unpopular Abbott, Beto would have to demonstrate discipline he has previously eschewed ." In January, Kronberg also tried to explain how the Democrats' plan to "turn Texas blue" fell flat in 2020, two years after Beto's big surge against Ted Cruz in 2018. Kronberg wrote in his January piece: "One Democratic graybeard noted that [Democratic Party] Chairman Gilbert Hinojosa's "deep dive" rehab panel does not have one forensic accountant to figure out where all that money went, and suspicions run deep." The Democrats received a boost from national donors to the tune of $40 to $60 million for the 2020 election but was there a "big skim?" The Democrats need a thorough house cleaning. Perhaps Beto is the best to carry that out because his fundraising is independent. We don't, however, see Beto winning in a two way race with Abbott. It's not only because Abbott has taken millions from those at the trough, including those who reaped mega-profits off the grid failure -- the Big Freeze. Millions of Texans want a break -- an independent political break -- with the two-party monopoly. But, so far, those who could electrify an independent electoral revolt have yet to magically appear. If LIV Had a Magic Independent Wand If we had a magic independent wand, we would have Mark Cuban or Joe Straus running for Governor as an independent. Let's amend that. Let's have both of them running and they can flip a coin for who runs for Governor and Lt. Governor. They would be swarmed by good talent that's getting wasted in either major party. Like, how about Mike Collie r? Collier is currently running an exploratory campaign to seek the Democratic nomination for Lt. Governor. Collier, a moderate, might situate himself better as an independent or a candidate of the new SAM party. Going to the Matt Speaking of Matt, we like the other Matt -- McConaughey. But he has told the truth about himself. He wants to remain an artist. McConaughey is a great cheerleader. If we could wave an independent magic wand, Matt McConaughey would cheerlead the independents to get on the Texas ballot. That is no small feat requiring great strength, discipline, and a bundle of cash. Do LIV a favor and get us a magic wand by becoming a member today ! Then join us next Monday night at our First Monday Forum. Mark Miller and Jeff Harper will be on the line to turn the redistricting process upside down.