Texas already has some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country, but that hasn’t stopped Republican state legislators from wanting to make it even harder for residents to cast a ballot.
The latest Republican voting bills (one version in the state House and another in the state Senate) would end measures that led to record turnout in several Texas counties last year and increased accessibility for vulnerable populations. For example, it would prevent drive-through polling sites in the state, implemented to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and require individuals who assist non-English speakers and disabled voters to submit additional paperwork. Plus, if signed into law, Texas would give more power to partisan poll “watchers,” meaning officials would have a hard time removing people who could be harassing voters. The bills would also ban 24-hour voting, which makes casting a ballot easier for residents who work long or odd hours, and establish new ID requirements for mail-in voting, among other restrictions.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has claimed that the restrictions are necessary to prevent fraud, even though he admitted to not being able to identify widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. In an effort to prevent the bills from advancing in the legislature, Texas Democrats fled the state last week and plan to stay away until the special session expires in August.
But if Abbott holds another special session and the bills pass, the law stands to disproportionately disenfranchise Black and Latino voters, disabled voters, elderly voters, and immigrants who relied on the innovative methods that expanded access to the ballot box in 2020. Across Texas, 53 percent of voters who used drive-through voting last year were Black, Latino, or Asian.In Harris County, where Houston is located, they introduced drive-through voting and boasted a 66 percent voter turnout rate — the highest in almost three decades.
“Last year we had incredible access to the ballot because of the many creative mechanisms that expanded our options for voting,” said Annie Benifield, a 64-year-old Harris County resident. But with the threat to drive-through voting, Benifield fears that her fellow Texans and Harris County neighbors won’t vote in the future. “Voting should be convenient and access should not depend on the zip code you live in or the color of your skin,” Benifield said.
Vox spoke to Benifield and other voters in Texas about how the bills’ voting restrictions would further complicate how they vote, from adding hours to the process to sitting out of voting altogether. Their remarks have been edited for length and clarity.
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