If you’re a nonprofit doing voter engagement work, you already know that voting laws are always shifting. Whether it’s recent adoptions of same day voter registrations, tighter voter ID laws or the expansion (or subtraction) of vote by mail options — the landscape is always changing and sometimes it can be hard to keep your feet beneath you.
2022 is no different. Whether you work in Texas or not, you’ve probably heard about a new law that has been making headlines. As reported by KUT 5 (Austin’s NPR station) Senate Bill 1, which went into effect last month, dictates that “
voters will now have to provide — on both their vote-by-mail application and the actual ballot — their driver’s license number or Social Security number .” In the wake of the new law, there are reports of “hundreds” of ballot applications have been rejected in populous counties like Harris, Travis and Bexar.
To get a better sense of what this law feels like on the ground and how local nonprofits are reacting and preparing, we talked with members of the League of Women Voters and MOVE Texas.
Q: When it comes to the new SB1 law, we’re seeing headlines saying hundreds of vote by mail applications are being rejected in populous counties like Harris, Travis and Bexar. What does your organization find to be the most challenging part of the new law?
A: “We’re seeing these applications rejected en mass for simple mistakes like voters using an older version of the application or not correctly filling out the new portion. Hundreds of applications for vote by mail have been rejected as a result so far,” says
Charlie Bonner, the Communications Director at MOVE Texas.
League of Women Voters of Texas President Grace Chimene expanded on that saying, “the massive SB1 election law changed much of how we conduct elections here in Texas. There is not just one aspect of the law we are concerned with but the overall voter suppressive nature of the bill. At this point in the election process, the impact is being felt by Texans who are 65 or over and voters with disabilities, and others who are eligible to vote by mail.“
Q: How are you letting your clients know about the recent changes and do you yet have a sense of what is and isn’t working?
A: Dorothy Marchand, Vice President Voter Education at LWV Texas, says: “We provide webinars, videos, pamphlets and graphics to educate folks on the new law. We provide voter education on our nonpartisan Voters Guide available in print at libraries across Texas, as a pdf on our website
LWVTexas.org and online at
VOTE411.org. We also are working with other organizations to increase our reach. The goal of our voter education is to take the complicated election law and make it simple.”
“We are looking into testing messaging ahead of the general election on how voter should navigate changes and some defiance messaging about voter suppression being a mobilizing issue,” says Bonner.
Q: How does your organization stay abreast of pending changes in voting laws?
A: Bonner explains, “We work closely with our legal partners at the Texas Civil Rights Project and the ACLU who’s lawyers review changes in the law and help movement groups navigate those changes.”
“The LWV takes an active role in supporting our voting rights positions during the legislative sessions,” says Chimene. “Our volunteers follow the bills, provide testimony, work with representatives, and share Action Alerts with supporters. We provide insight to legislators into the impact of voting and election legislation on voters.“
Learn more about
MOVE Texas and the
League of Women Voters Texas.
Working in Texas and want to stay connected to official sources on voting laws and regulations — visit our “Voting in Your State” page.
See how your organization can better support voters who want to vote by mail.
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