Mail Ballot Rejections Surge in Texas, With Signs of a Race Gap

The overwhelming majority of ballots had been rejected due to guidelines set final yr that required voters to supply their driver’s license quantity or partial Social Safety quantity. Many both didn’t fill out the part on their poll that requested for the identification quantity or had a unique ID on file with election officers, and their poll was rejected. Texas grants voters a restricted window of time to deal with issues with their ballots in a course of known as “curing,” however The Instances discovered that greater than 18,000 had been by no means fastened. (Voters may take their rejected ballots, in the event that they acquired them in time, to a polling place to vote in particular person.)

As a result of Texas counties resolve whether or not to carry a joint major or separate get together primaries, and just some counties report separate partisan turnout totals, it’s troublesome to evaluate any partisan benefit from the poll rejections. In Harris County, for instance, greater than 3,800 rejected ballots had been within the Democratic major, and roughly 3,100 rejections had been within the Republican major. However the fee of rejection for Republican ballots in Harris County was increased, at 20 %, than the speed for Democratic votes, which was 17 %.

In Denton County, within the populous Dallas suburbs, 638 ballots had been rejected within the Republican major, or 20 % of absentee ballots solid, and 262 had been thrown out within the Democratic major, roughly 10 %.

Republicans within the Legislature final yr heralded the voting invoice as strengthening election safety and argued that it could increase poll entry.

“By making it simpler to vote and tougher to cheat, we now have dramatically improved elections throughout Texas,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican who championed the regulation, mentioned when it handed.

However the sharp rise in poll rejections, coupled with what election officers throughout Texas mentioned was a flood of voters calling them with questions, means that the state’s overhauled electoral course of has confused 1000’s of voters and threatened to disenfranchise 1000’s extra.

Mr. Patrick didn’t reply to questions concerning the improve in poll rejections and the racial disparity of thrown-out ballots in Harris County. State Senator Bryan Hughes, the chief sponsor of the invoice, additionally didn’t reply to questions. A spokeswoman for Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican operating for re-election this yr, referred inquiries to the secretary of state.