Texas counties are rejecting record numbers of mail-in ballot applications just days after the start of early voting as post-2020 changes to voting laws reshape the conduct of elections in the second-largest U.S. state.
Harris County, home to Houston and a population bigger than half the states in the union, has rejected more than a third of mail-in ballots sent in thus far for the March 1 primary. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of requests for mail-in ballots also have foundered because of stricter requirements, the county said. In Cameron County along the border with Mexico, the application rejection rate has soared tenfold since the last midterm elections in 2018.
“We know the numbers are significantly larger than any other election we’ve conducted in Texas history,’’ said Remi Garza, the top official in Cameron County and president of the Texas Association of Election Administrators.
New rules signed into law by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott last year require voters to provide a driver’s license or some other ID number on applications to vote by mail. The trouble arises because county election rolls may contain a different form of ID than the one entered on the application, causing a mismatch that triggers automatic denial of a ballot.
“We may not be able to verify it’s true, even if it is,’’ said Leah Shah, a spokeswoman for Harris County Elections.
Abbott and the GOP-dominated legislature introduced the new restrictions as part of a wide-ranging package they said was aimed at improving election security after then-President Donald Trump lost his 2020 reelection bid and alleged voter fraud was to blame. Democratic leaders and electoral-rights advocates across the nation have decried the new rules adopted in Texas and elsewhere as discriminatory voter-suppression measures.
Abbott’s office directed a reporter’s questions to the Secretary of State John Scott, the state’s chief election officer.
“Our office has been working as quickly and diligently as possible to provide comprehensive guidance to both election officials and voters on changes to the mail voting process in Texas and new ID requirements,” Scott’s office said in an email. “Our goal from day one has always been to make sure that all eligible Texas voters can successfully cast a ballot, and that remains our goal going forward.”
One of the main problems has been the speed at which the new rules were implemented. Signed into law on Dec. 2, the new applications were not even available in some counties when voters began requesting them last month, according to Garza. There was no education campaign on behalf of the state to help administrators, or voters, he added.
“The first time most voters realized that this ID number was required was when they received the rejection,” Garza said.
Harris County, which has a population of about 4.7 million people, has rejected 14% of 33,380 processed ballot applications, twice the percentage that were thrown out in 2018. Additionally, 34% of mailed-in ballots have been turned down. Some 2,856 Democratic Party voters had their ballots rejected due to an absent or mismatched ID, 73% more than Republican voters. Harris County is a solidly Democratic jurisdiction.
“While Republicans posture as defenders of elections, they continue an all-out assault on our democratic process,” the Texas Democratic Party said in a statement. “Since the passage of SB 1 – Governor Abbott and his fellow Republicans continue to ignore the rule of law while suppressing the voices of thousands of Texans.”
