With today’s deadline for registering to vote for the March 1 primary elections, it was fitting that Texas Secretary of State’s office finally fixed a registration glitch last week for the Houston chapter of the League of Women Voters of Texas. The League had been appealing to the state for more voter registration forms in advance of today’s deadline, and state officials surprisingly said that supply chain problems had prevented them from printing up more forms.
The Secretary of State’s office initially said it could give only 50 of these forms for the state’s most populous city. After widespread and deserved criticism, the state finally came through and sent the League 10,000 voter registration forms. That’s far more appropriate for a city the size of Houston … and apparently those “supply chain” problems weren’t that bad after all.
In addition to pre-election drives, the League also distributes voter registration forms at ceremonies where new citizens are sworn in. In fact, the League also distributes the forms at conventions, rock concerts and other large public events to help more people take part in democracy’s most important duty — voting.
The larger issue here is that the Secretary of State’s office knew for months that today would be the deadline to register for the March 1 elections. It should have had a rough idea of how many voter registration forms would be needed, and had enough on hand — plus a few thousand more.
And this is not just a good idea, it’s the law. The National Voter Registration Act requires states to make mail voter registration applications available for distribution through governmental and private entities — like the League of Women Voters.
After all, we are talking about a one-page paper form that can’t cost more than a few cents for each one. This is a basic responsibility of the Secretary of State’s office, and when it fumbles something so simple, Texans will wonder just what is going on? Is it incompetence, which is bad enough, or was this another effort by Republican officials to make it harder for people they believe to be Democrats to register to vote and then actually vote?
Texas is also one of only 11 states that unfortunately does not offer online voter registration. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner pointed out the folly of this practice, saying “Online platforms are used for everything from banking and on-demand car services to food delivery. It is 2022, and we are still mandating a 19th-century data collection system.”
In Jefferson County, residents can register to vote at the county courthouse in downtown Beaumont, at the Mid-County Tax Office by the Jack Brooks Regional Airport and at the Jefferson County Sub-Courthouse in downtown Port Arthur.
If you’re not registered yet, please do that today and make sure to re-register if you move within Texas. Your vote matters, but only if it is cast on election day.
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