By Chris Fox
AUSTIN (KRLD) - The State Senate Nominations committee approved acting Secretary of State David Whitley’s nomination along strict party lines, but to keep his job he needs the vote of two-thirds of the full Senate.
Rice University Political Scientist Mark Jones doesn’t see the Senate even bringing it up for a vote. “I think the real question is now for Lt. Governor Dan Patrick on whether or not he brings this to the floor, where Whitley’s nomination is likely to be rejected due to unanimous Democratic opposition to it.”
If Patrick does bring the nomination up for a full Senate vote and it’s rejected, Whitley would have to step down from the position almost immediately and Governor Abbott would have to replace him.
Jones says that’s not the case if the Senate refuses to vote on it. “If no vote occurs on the Senate floor, then Whitley can stay in his position till the end of May (the end of the current legislative session) at which point Governor Abbott can name a new Secretary of State who would serve until the next legislative session meets in 2021.”
Whitley’s been criticized for releasing an inaccurate list of 95-thousand people he claimed were non-citizens on the State’s voter roll. Jones says, “Whitley blew the job by committing an unforced error releasing a list of voters who it turned out most of them if not all of them were citizens.”
Whitley is currently facing multiple lawsuits from civil rights groups who claim he’s guilty of attempted voter suppression and voter intimidation in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
A Federal Judge has blocked the state from using the list to purge names from its voter registry.