Texas primary is an early test of new voting rules Republicans passed in many states

Texas primary is an early test of new voting rules Republicans passed in many states

Transcript¹

In the Texas primary, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic nominee² Beto O'Rourke easily won their primaries. Attorney General Ken³ Paxton will head to a GOP runoff against George P. Bush.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Texas Governor Greg Abbott easily survived a primary last night as he seeks another term. In the general election this fall, the Republican will face Democratic primary winner Beto O'Rourke.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BETO O'ROURKE: We have got to get past the incompetence⁴, the corruption⁵ and the cruelty of Greg Abbott. Are you with me on this?

(CHEERING)

INSKEEP: Governor Abbott spoke⁶ with his supporters in Corpus Christi.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GREG ABBOTT: Where we have protected your constitutional rights, they threatened to take them away. Where we have promoted exceptionalism, they stoke fearmongering. We will not let them win this state.

(CHEERING)

INSKEEP: Houston Public Media's Andrew Schneider is covering this story. Andrew, good morning.

ANDREW SCHNEIDER, BYLINE⁸: Good morning.

INSKEEP: Sounds like you've got a marquee governor's race coming up.

SCHNEIDER: Yeah. Yeah, Abbott's very popular with conservatives. He had several challenges on the far right, but he was able to dispatch them easily. Now we have a race with Beto O'Rourke, former congressman⁹ and presidential candidate who made waves in Texas with his challenge to Senator Ted⁷ Cruz that was ultimately unsuccessful. He gained a lot of supporters and established an organization then. But pre-primary polling has found Abbott besting O'Rourke, and Texas hasn't elected a Democratic governor in more than three decades.

INSKEEP: I want to dwell on some of the other races in Texas because it's such a big state. It makes such national headlines. Whatever Governor Abbott does is a headline. The attorney general makes a lot of headlines. Other officials do as well. And the attorney general is in a little bit of trouble.

SCHNEIDER: Yeah. Attorney General Ken Paxton is a prominent Trump¹⁰ supporter and a foe¹¹ of the Biden administration, but he's also been dogged by legal investigations¹³, so he drew three challengers. He did have the highest vote share, but Texas operates with a runoff system, so if a candidate doesn't get more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters go to a second round, which will be in May. His opponent in the runoff is George P. Bush, the state's land commissioner¹⁴ and son of Jeb Bush.

INSKEEP: So Ken Paxton now against the latest generation of the Bush family. What about congressional races, of which there are so many it could affect control of Congress this fall?

SCHNEIDER: Well, one of the big ones I was looking at was the Democratic race in South Texas between longtime, relatively¹⁵ conservative congressman Henry Cuellar and 28-year-old progressive Jessica Cisneros. Now, Cuellar actually beat Cisneros two years ago. But in January, there was an FBI raid on Cuellar's home and office that really affected¹⁶ the contest. There aren't many details about the investigation¹², and Cuellar says he's done nothing wrong, but it recast the race in its final weeks, and now Cuellar and Cisneros are heading to a runoff.

INSKEEP: OK, so multiple races, multiple runoffs that involve someone under investigation there in Texas. And all of this is happening under new voting rules, which we've covered intensively here on MORNING EDITION and on NPR, Texas has changed last year to its voting laws, one of many states, Republican-led states, across the country that did that. How did the new rules affect people's experiences?

SCHNEIDER: Well, one change that was kind of under the radar¹⁷ required Texans seeking to vote by mail to include their driver's license¹⁸ number or Social Security number in multiple places on the application and ballot¹⁹. And many voters have been neglecting to fill out one or both of these or putting in the wrong number, and the result is thousands of ballots²⁰ were flagged for rejection²¹.

INSKEEP: May well be legitimate²² voters, but they were caught for a paperwork issue. Any other effects of the law?

SCHNEIDER: Well, one of the main issues that we've been seeing at the polls, actually, is more technical than legal. There have been some long delays here in Harris County, apparently²³ because of problems with a significant number of paper ballots going through the county's new voting machines. Harris County is the biggest in the state, so it's a big block of votes waiting for some candidates.

INSKEEP: Oh, so we still don't know the vote totals for some of the races?

SCHNEIDER: No.

INSKEEP: OK. Andrew, thanks for the update. Really appreciate it.

SCHNEIDER: You're welcome.

INSKEEP: That's Houston Public Media's Andrew Schneider.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

4 incompetence   

n.不胜任，不称职

参考例句：

• He was dismissed for incompetence. 他因不称职而被解雇。
• She felt she had been made a scapegoat for her boss's incompetence. 她觉得，本是老板无能，但她却成了替罪羊。

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

10 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

11 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

14 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

15 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

16 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

17 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

18 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

19 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

20 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

22 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

23 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。