Nearly 40% rejection rate of mail in ballots in Texas! We need to stop authoritarians in America !!

[uponit7771]

Nearly 40% rejection rate of mail in ballots in Texas! We need to stop authoritarians in America !!

Just heard on MSNBC the rate of rejection is up by the thousands

There's an authoritarian streak in America and its implemented en force is the dictatorship of Texas


We need to tie people like Greg Abbot and DeathSentence to Putler aims and his tactics to win elections, what we call voter suppression.

[gab13by13]

1. I kept saying that GOTV on its own wasn't enough.

[uponit7771]

6. +1, MANY MANY people on DU have said this and were called "doom and gloomers". You CAN NOT

... brute force vote anti access measures, that's just common sense.

[uponit7771]

38. People are Shocked Shocked at the warnings that brute force voting don't work against

... anti access laws ....

Damn, we've been warning for over a year !!

[bullimiami]

2. remember pre covid mail in and absentee ballot use was majority republican.

this may not have the impact they were trying for.

[Johnny2X2X]

13. Agree

Mail in for 2022 and beyond does not equal mail in for 2020. In 2020 we were in the middle of a deadly pandemic that only liberals seemed to care about, so liberals voted by mail in record numbers, not necessarily for convenience, but for safety. The pandemic is in fact fading, this Fall should be back to normal norms for mail in, and Republicans are more likely to mail in ballots than Dems most cycles. Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot on this, let's hope they don't realize it.

[TheRealNorth]

19. Thats wishful thinking

Because Republicans are cutting precincts and doing other draconian things to ensure long, long lines in Democratic areas for in-person voting too.

At what point doesn't this become an equal protection issue?

[yellowdogintexas]

54. one thing in our favor here: COunty wide voting aka Voting Centers

Of Texas' 254 counties, 55 are using this system. It is true that locations are being reduced or moved, but each county has input before the rearrangements happen. I thought it was all locally handled but a past Democratic County Chair told me that the county has some input on the closures/relocations.

What it means: voters are not tied to a specific precinct or location for Election Day voting. All of the metropolitan counties are using this (Tarrant, Dallas, Bexar, Harris, Travis and El Paso). It has been a life saver, especially at the end of the day.

We had to meet a number of requirements for the Texas SecState to approve, then the County Commissioners' Court had to hold a hearing and then vote on it. Our Commissioners voted 4 to 1 in favor.

Result: no more sending voters to a different location. In 2020 we had 300 voting locations from which to choose on Election Day (plus 50 Early Voting locations). Voters may choose their voting location for convenience. Tarrant is a large county, and many folks have long commutes, so they can vote near their place of work. Shorter wait times at the election site.

Voters can look up their voter information online and find the nearest locations then check wait times. That query will show the wait time for all the nearby locations. Election teams on site can also access this info and redirect voters to a location with shorter wait time.

We live within 10 minutes of 5 locations. It is possible one of those may be closed, but there are 4 others very nearby. Some closing decisons are strictly based on voting numbers. Low turnout locations might be merged with a nearby location. Some sites are not used in all elections either. We have some very low turnout elections (bond issues, state Constitutional Amendments and so on). Locations are often reduced for those.

I wish this were statewide but a large number of our counties do not yet have the equipment needed to make it work.

[spanone]

3. K&R

No wonder the media keeps saying the republicans will win the house & senate back.

[pdxflyboy]

4. I'm sure

That the decisions to reject these ballots are NOT being made by bi-partisan boards.

[yellowdogintexas]

48. In Tarrant County (Fort Worth) it is most definitely a bi-partisan board.

I have 3 Democratic friends on that board and they tell me it is very bi-partisan. If a member from either party questions a ballot or application, the whole board has to look at it then they vote. The board has an odd number of members and ties are broken by a neutral third party (our Elections Director).

There is even a Libertarian on the board. I have not served on Ballot Board but I hope to do so in 2024.

The same people serve on the board whether it is for applications or the actual voting ballots. The Board starts working in January, basically when enough applications have been received to make up at least 1/2 day of work time. These folks are paid so the county isn't interested in paying them to sit there with nothing to do. As soon as ballots start coming back, the board starts reviewing the envelope signatures. Ballots remain sealed until Election Day when they are opened and scanned.
/

[pdxflyboy]

57. I stand corrected,

Thank you for that information.

[lark]

5. Hopefully most of the 40% voters are repugs.

Would be so sweet if they screwed the pooch with their own voters.

[uponit7771]

8. I wish, the rejections are coming from Urban areas. The TX SoS sent out different ballots to ...

... red areas vs blue areas because it's a dictatorship

[Hoyt]

18. Aren't these ballots for primaries? I'd expect them to be different.

[yellowdogintexas]

35. yes. Everyone puts their party preference on the APPLICATION,

so you get the primary and runoff ballots you want. We do not register by party, so we can vote in either primary should we choose to do so and change it up every year if we want to. If there is a runoff we can only vote for runoffs from the party we chose in the original primary.

The general election ballots are all alike. One application gets you ballots for the entire year.

[Tree Lady]

14. Do they contact people?

My daughter in San Antonio told me she just mailed in early vote. She voted for Beto in primary.

[lark]

15. Depends on the county.

I know they are calling from Austin because I heard that yesterday, but said it was a county by county effort so don;t know about San Antonio?

[yellowdogintexas]

44. Per our local elections board, voters were supposed to be contacted

if there was a problem with their ballot or application.

One year I signed my ballot envelope incorrectly and my ballot was returned to me with all the old and new envelopes - everything I needed to see why it came back and everything I needed to know to get it back in correctly.

This would have been a disaster for my 2022 appllication though. My Ballot By Mail tracking on the county website shows my ballot was mailed Feb 21 and my USPS tracker shows it is supposed to arrive today. There is no way that I could mail it and have it reach the Elections Office in time. If I had sent my application back sooner, I might have received my ballot earlier. For the remaining elections in 2022 my ballot will automatically be sent and it will be mailed much earlier in the process.

I now have 2 choices: drive up to the County Elections office, show ID and hand them my ballot. OR take my ballot with me when I go to vote at a voting center, Show ID and surrender the ballot then vote the regular way on the machine.

[Irish_Dem]

7. How can we borrow courage from Ukraine to stop Putin/GOP autocracy here in the US?

[uponit7771]

9. We ***MUST*** ... ***MUST*** borrow UKR message mechanics. I've been screaming about

... this for over a year but people want to continue to blame M$M vs taking up our own "stinger" missles in message war

[Irish_Dem]

10. If we don't, Putin is successful in his invasion of the US via the GOP.

Putin bought off half the US government and the entire media.
He invaded the US without firing a shot.

This is why he felt invincible and emboldened and could takeover Ukraine.

[uponit7771]

12. Yep, looks like UK wants to expose Tory ties to Putler ... they're sick of it

[Irish_Dem]

20. We should be sick of it too.

[uponit7771]

21. +1, someone mentioned Pelosi should prose a non biden resolution against Russia and see who

... votes against it for the world to see.

We need to get these fuckers out of office

[Irish_Dem]

24. Can we fight as hard to save our democracy as Ukraine?

[uponit7771]

34. Yes, if we can keep from being lulled to sleep as "doomers and gloomers" when we warn that

... brute force voting (GOTv) doesn't work against anti access laws.

That's a tactic of Putler and his boys in their elections; to confuse the shit out of certain sectors of the electorate so their votes don't count.

TX is pulling this off with STUNNING results and SOME are just now noticing this ...

WE NEED TO CALL OUR REPS

and get them to get into Biden mode with the election !!!

[Irish_Dem]

47. Biden is using CIA tactics against Putin now.

Why can't CIA tactics be used against Putin's GOP here in the US?

[uponit7771]

49. +1, I think people are lulled to sleep that the GQP can be gotten around with brute force voting ...

... but the GQP has thought that

[Irish_Dem]

50. Putin's GOP is obtaining control of the voting system.

They want white minority rule.

Bruce force voting may not work at all in that case.

[yellowdogintexas]

55. don't forget the impact of the new redistricting maps

We are so messed up. The current maps pretty much mean that the TX Congressional Delegation will be majority Republican for at least the next 10 years. In Harris County, two adjacent Democratic districts were carved up so that one of them was eliminated. Interestingly, the two Representatives are both black members with significant seniority.

This also applies to the TX State Legislature; both House and Senate districts have been thoroughly rearranged.

I saw the other day that the TN map eliminated one of only two Democratic House seats by sectioning off Davidson County (Nashville) and breaking up the Democratic voting areas. That district has been a Democratic stronghold for at least as long as I can remember (I am 73).

[BComplex]

11. We need massive protests against the supreme court. This is on them.

I mean massive.

[UTUSN]

16. PAXTON saved Texas for Drumpf by blocking mail-in ballots applications

*******QUOTE******

https://www.newsweek.com/texas-ag-says-trump-wouldve-lost-state-if-it-hadnt-blocked-mail-ballots-applications-being-1597909

Texas AG Says Trump Would've 'Lost' State If It Hadn't Blocked Mail-in Ballots Applications Being Sent Out

******UNQUOTE****

[yellowdogintexas]

39. Paxton is such a dipstick. These rules were not in effect in 2020.

Now individual county ballot boards might be more inclined to reject ballot applications but it would not have been because of this particular rule.

Voter registrations might have been rejected at a higher rate for a variety of reasons though.

This will definitely vary according to the county.

[UTUSN]

56. I should have said "in *related* " topics, not appearing to conflate with the current shenanigans.

Besides that I stay on the surface of topics and am not qualified to get into the weeds.

The article relates to 2020 and nefarious Repuke doings that did actually take place back then, distinct from the current doings.

[Hoyt]

17. Right now, we need to do a better job of educating voters to put a few numbers on their ballot.

[uponit7771]

22. No one can remember what number they used 2 years ago ... come on. It's not just a "few numbers"

[Hoyt]

23. Then, put every number you have on there. I don't believe Democrats are as stupid as some think.

Sure, I'd prefer it were simpliar and these laws did not exist. But it's not going to change between now and November. So Democratic organizations better get the word out.

[uponit7771]

25. WTF ?!?! PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WARNING OF THIS FOR OVER A YEAR !! You can ***NOT*** brute ...

.... force vote (GOTV) anti access laws !!

It's not even logical !!

They ...CAN NOT ... put "every number on there" ... the ballot or registration will be invalidated come on

and stop the RW bullshit screed of "too stupid" it's not a matter of stupidity no one knows which ID number (DL or SSN) they used 2 years ago.

Bullshit man

[Hoyt]

26. Fine. You discourage everyone from voting. I prefer to educate them so their vote counts.

The law is not going to change in next few months. So the only option is to educate people, unless you want to just give up.

[uponit7771]

27. Fuck that bullshit, warning people of what's coming is not "discouraging" to vote its making sure

... people are educated and know what the GQP is up to.

People here think the GQP is fuckin around, they're WORSE if not just as bad as Putler and people are whistling past the grave yard with this shit.

CALL YOUR REP !!!

TELL THEM TO LIGHT THEIR HAIR ON FIRE (like Biden did) ABOUT GQP TACTICS !!!

[Hoyt]

29. It's simple, as explained here. Could do without the Texas drawl, though.

Sorry it's too difficult for you. Good luck.

[uponit7771]

42. You seriously posted a YT vid with 531 views ?! There are millions of voters in TX who need to see

... this and it is county by county.

... jus ... damn, we warned people.

We need to call our reps

[Hoyt]

45. I swear, I don't think you are paying attention. It is on the state election website. And every

Democratic organization should be handing, mailing, etc., instructions out.

Hope by the time you get your ballot, you will have figured it out.

[uponit7771]

46. wow Hoyt, did you not know it was past the deadline for mail in corrections already?

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/new-mail-voter-id-rules-sow-confusion-texas-thousands-ballots-risk-rej-rcna16637

YOU ... are not paying attention !!!

Voters can correct their ballot applications until Friday, Feb. 18, the deadline for requesting a mail ballot before the March 1 primary; Texans are asked to postmark their mail ballots by 7 p.m. on primary day, but some voters will be able to fix ballot errors as late as March 7.

Pay attention now, we need to push the message on DU to call our reps and get their attention on this issue vs telling people to be 100% nats ass perfect on filling out registration forms

[Hoyt]

52. Then, if you want to vote in the 2022 primary, better get to the polls.

[uponit7771]

53. +1, I think this has to be the message now

[yellowdogintexas]

28. our elections office encouraged voters to put both the DL number and the last 4 of SSN

on the application.

Since we got our DL and registered to vote here 32 years ago, we certainly do not remember which # we used on our original voter registration. It is quite possible the number required was different at that time. Anyway, I am pretty sure we would have used our SSN because we would not have had the DL # yet.

I don't know how other counties are handling all these nuances.

[Hoyt]

30. Exactly. It's not that hard.

[uponit7771]

32. Or true, no one has verified if two numbers on one registration is work either in TX. Come on keep

... up with what's happening

[Hoyt]

33. Watch this and tell me it's just too difficult for Democrats.

[uponit7771]

36. WOW !!! So the avg primary voter in Sugarland TX has watched this and heed to it? What about

... the registration for the other counties because the rules are disjointed.

Please keep up with what the GQP is doing, we need to educate ourselves on their tactics

[Hoyt]

37. Christ, that's what local Democratic organizations are for-- educating voters.

[uponit7771]

40. You're right & there's what 13 million of them in every TX county hunh ?! We WARNED people this was

... coming and their LAWS against voting or tactics to confuse the electorate.

We can call our reps and tell them to Biden this issue and run around with their hairs on fire about the GQP tactics.

We can start NOW that we know how effective these tactics are

[uponit7771]

31. "I don't know how other counties are handling all these nuances." That's the point of the GQP ...

... anti access laws was it was supposed to be confusing.

We don't know if both numbers on one registration is going to work, that's the point they're doing this shit on purpose aligning themselves with the tactics of Putler to subvert US elections.

We need to call them out ... and the time for alarm is hot damn now

[yellowdogintexas]

41. I think they do not realize there is a very strong possibility of shooting themselves in the foot

because Republicans vote by mail at higher percentages. 2020 was kindof an outlier due to COVID. As someone stated earlier, Democrats were taking COVID far more seriously and were therefore more inclined to request a mail in ballot.

I haven't seen any data myself about percentages of registered voters who are requesting ballot applications this year v 2020. That should be interesting.

[uponit7771]

43. True, but they are counting on a ratio to win and there's no one overseeing Paxton's in place ...

... crew not throwing out more dem votes than rep.

Also, the video posted about registration only has 531 views on it.

The message should've been sent out months ago, America is the 3rd largest country on the planet and TX is the size of Ukraine.

There's no way messages saturation outside of a UKR like pr campaign happens in weeks in America any longer.

[dumbcat]

51. Why were they rejected?

That would seem germane to the discussion, and I don't see much about it. Were they all from minority neighborhoods?