Spoke with Lawyer from Texas Secretary of State Office on mail in voting.

[cayugafalls]

I take a chemo drug so I am immuno-compromised, but I do not have any sort of disability that would prevent me from actually going in to vote and I had a question on getting the mail in voting form.

The lawyer I spoke with was really nice and told me to fill out the form and select disability. She cited the Election Code on Disability.

Sec. 82.002. DISABILITY. (a) A qualified voter is eligible for early voting by mail if the voter has a sickness or physical condition that prevents the voter from appearing at the polling place on election day without a likelihood of needing personal assistance or of injuring the voter's health.

I do not have to cite my reason. I do not have to prove any illness. Just select the box. Sign the form and mail it in.

I'm pretty happy about this as my wife was getting really upset at me for my stand on going in to vote no matter what I had to do. She was looking at full body PPE from Amazon and I guess I would have obliged her wishes and worn it, but this makes my life a little easier and I won't look like the guys in Hazmat Suits...

This still does not mean you can just claim you are afraid of getting the virus, when I pressed her about that she referred back to the Codes and said they were pretty clear on that point.

I hope others reach out and understand that they can vote by mail if they have an illness or physical condition that makes them vulnerable to the virus.

Stay well all...

[elleng]

1. Good to hear, Good luck, and

thanks.

[CatWoman]

2. K; R

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Arguably "physical condition" would include age -

people over 60 are more susceptible to severe cases if they catch it. Same is true of people who are diabetic, obese, have lung or heart diseases or high blood pressure. Some studies suggest that men are more susceptible than women, and that bald men are more susceptible than other men. All of those are physical conditions. Go with it.

Actually, even just being alive is a physical condition, and being alive makes you susceptible to catching the virus because it needs a live human host.

[cayugafalls]

6. YES! She was very adamant about that part of the code.

She said people need to read it carefully to understand the full scope.

I downloaded the form and it is only a check box. So no followup or explanation required and the lawyer made that VERY clear, she said "You do not have to prove anything."

[cannabis_flower]

15. Texas automatically allows

those over 65 to vote by mail. Always have. It wouldn't be a stretch if you are over 60 and have any valid condition, heart disease, obesity, diabetes to claim a disability.

In my case I'm 61, obese, have asthma and arthritis in my knees that makes it hard for me to walk and stand in a line.

[lunatica]

4. In my state no questions are asked

other than if you’re a resident.

[cayugafalls]

7. That would be really nice.

Seems we have to jump though a few hoops here and not everyone is qualified, which sucks.

I still think it should be open to anyone who wants one, but I am happy nonetheless.

[lunatica]

14. I was able to register to vote at the DMV when I got my

license.

[Hoyt]

8. Currently 29 stars allow no excuse absentee voting by mail. Seems to me

other states like yours could easily interpret/reinterpret the law similarly for CV19, if they give a darn.

[cayugafalls]

10. Unfortunately, they just don't care.

That and I had to call and speak with them to get them to explain it to me, and then she was almost "leading" me by reading the code very slow and emphasizing the "sickness" and "physical condition" parts as if she knew we could use those to our advantage, especially since there is no requirement to prove or otherwise validate the form.

I think the code is written very broadly just for that purpose. It gives them a partial out.

[LeftInTX]

9. Glad to hear SOS Office was helpful!

I may use it in Nov mainly because I have a bad back (diagnosed and the whole bit). I will go in person for the runoff

[cayugafalls]

11. She was really nice and stressed all the right words...it was kind of cool.

I think you are covered, even for the runoff, if you wanted.

All you have to do is check the box. No proof required.

[cayugafalls]

12. Link to the form.

https://webservices.sos.state.tx.us/forms/5-15f.pdf

[LeftInTX]

13. Thank you!