New Texas voting laws results in unprecedented rejection of absentee ballots By Jordan Conestabile
The 2022 Texas primary recently unfolded with one of the strictest voter identification laws in the country. Texas no longer permits no-excuse absentee voting by mail for voters younger than 65. New voting reforms also require proof of government identification as part of mail-ballot applications, including driver’s license number or the last four digits of someone’s social security number.
Omission of this information or an error in completing any section of the application or ballot makes the ballot invalid. Voters who make errors are provided the opportunity to correct them up to 11 days prior the election.
Photo from TX government
New state law also eliminated drive through voting and voting during overnight hours. These voting options are particularly popular among people of color. Both were widely utilized in Harris County, the most populous county in the state, and one that typically votes Democratic. Reforms also further empowered partisan poll watchers, granting greater movement and access, and enacted criminal penalties for assisting voters,
The Texas election is not a strong test of new poll watching and assistance regulations, given the dynamics of primaries, whereby nominees are selected to participate in the general election. Mail-in-ballots, on the other hand, were rejected at an unprecedented level for failing to meet newly implemented hurdles, preventing of thousands of Texans from having their vote count.
Jordan Conestabile is a Political Science student at Utica University.
