Editorial: Hundreds of rejected ballots? Texas' new 'poll test' is working as predicted.
Thousands of vote by mail applications have been rejected due to voters not using the right number.
Link to tweet
These days in Texas, its a memory test.
A new Texas law, passed under the auspices of election integrity in pursuit of the phantom myth of voter fraud, puts up extra obstacles for people applying for a mail-in ballot. A new form requires that would-be voters provide either a partial Social Security number or a Texas driver license number. Seems simple enough but heres the catch: the number provided has to be the same one the voter gave, possibly years or decades ago, when he or she registered to vote.
Try to use your Social Security number when you registered with your drivers license number and sorry, Texans, your perfectly legitimate attempt to access your constitutional voting rights is denied. We have the Texas Legislature to thank for this reform thats causing headaches for elections officials across Texas as it ensnares hundreds of voters of all stripes whose number recall is less than perfect.
LogicFirst
(572 posts)when you signed up for that obscure website you never use. 🤯🤯
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)but a long-forgotten password with them in charge of records?
Igel
(35,337 posts)Please, find line 17.
https://webservices.sos.state.tx.us/forms/5-15f.pdf
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)early voting begins Feb 14, so coming up fast.
Igel
(35,337 posts)Going and finding the Texas DLs for people who registered with SSNs, for example.
You don't have to provide *the* same number. But you have to provide a number that matches information on file. Easy fix: Provide both. "Must provide either" does not mean "Provide only one."
Annoying and something that's easily fixed. "Provide both SSN and Texas DL if you have them; if you only have a SSN or Texas DL, provide that". Then those with both will be sure to provide one good number (unless the Texas DL's changed), those with only one will provide the one that they had.
Actually, the # can also include the voter ID #. That's for sure the safest path. If I were media, I'd be making sure that people knew *how* to ensure compliance.
There's also supposed to be a correction mechanism: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/01/13/texas-voting-mail-rejections/ .
A spokesperson for the secretary of states office said it would be providing specific guidance to the counties in the near future to address any outstanding questions about this process.
But the window for corrections is narrowing. County officials can receive applications to vote by mail until Feb. 18, but it takes time to process applications and prepare materials to inform voters of a rejection.
In other words, if they get your application on 2/18, they may not process it in time to notify you and get a correction by, um, Feb. 18.