Thousands of mail-in ballots are being rejected in Harris County and across Texas for not meeting voter ID requirements under the state's new controversial voting law. However, Gov. Greg Abbott's office is placing the blame on local election officials, not the new changes to voter requirements, for invalidated ballots.
Nan Tolson, a spokesperson for Abbott, told Newsweek Tuesday that officials should report such issues to the state instead of going to the media. "The bottom line is that counties should not be rejecting valid mail ballot applications," Tolson told Newsweek. "Reports of high rejection rates of mail ballot applications at the county level are the result of election officials erroneously interpreting the law and going to the press instead of the Texas Secretary of State's office for assistance."
https://www.newsweek.com/greg-abbott-blames-election-officials-errors-mail-ballot-issues-1679426
Under Senate Bill 1, which took effect in December, voters are required to include their driver's license number or the last four digits of their social security number on their mail-in voting application and ballots. Those numbers must also match information on a voter's record to be accepted.
The March 1 primary is the state's first big election under the new law and
Harris County, election officials have claim they have had to reject 40 percent of mail-in ballots received as of Monday, many due to issues pertaining to voter identification. A February
February poll by the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Politics Project found that at least 26 percent of Texas voters are unable to remember how they registered to vote.
"Either they're not filling it out at all or because this ID information was not previously required, we don't have all of this ID information already in our system," said Leah Shah, a spokesperson for the Harris County Elections Administrator's office. "So the challenge is, even if you provide us with a social security number and it is accurate, when we go into our system and you registered to vote with your Texas driver's license, we can't verify that your social security is accurate. So then we would have to reject it."
Voters and election officials are short on time to sort out any of these ID issues. Shah said the administrator's office has increased staff and hours to address these problems and educate voters that might not be aware of the new rules before Friday's deadline to apply to vote by mail.
"The decision by county election officials to reject valid mail ballot applications harms those eligible voters who have properly submitted their applications," Tolson said. "The Secretary of State's office has worked diligently to ensure counties have access to the resources and information they need to process mail ballot applications in accordance with the new law, including issuing new guidance and holding a formal training with counties."
In
In a video released Wednesday, two days before the deadline to apply to vote by mail , Texas Secretary of State John Scott shared step-by-step instructions on mail-in ballots. As many election officials already have, Scott also advised voters to include both a social security number and Texas driver's license number on their ballot to avoid delays.
The office has faced staunch criticism ahead of the primary for limiting voter registration forms,
prompting litigation threats by local voter registration groups such as the Houston chapter of the Texas League of Women Voters. The Texas Civil Rights Project, MOVE Texas Action Fund, and Common Cause Texas along with 30 other civil rights groups issued a complaint Monday saying the office failed to provide adequate and timely guidance to counties on how to handle new rules.
The letter also alleges the office rolled out an online ballot tracker website in mid-January without educating voters about the system.
"The Secretary of State's office will continue to work with counties across the state to combat the misinformation being spread by county election officials and ensure that all valid mail ballot applications are processed," Tolson told Newsweek.
Ariana Garcia joined Chron in 2021. Previously, she was a community news and breaking news reporter for the Austin American-Statesman. She enjoys binge-watching anime and films makeup tutorials in her spare time.
Read more