Hundreds of mail-in ballot applications are being rejected under Texas' new voting rules

[douglas9]

Hundreds of Texans seeking to vote by mail in the upcoming March primary elections are seeing their applications for ballots rejected by local election offices trying to comply with stricter voting rules enacted by Texas Republicans last year.

Election officials in some of the state’s largest counties are rejecting an alarming number of mail-in applications because they don’t meet the state’s new identification requirements. Some applications are being rejected because of a mismatch between the new identification requirements and the data the state has on file to verify voters.

Under Texas’ new voting law, absentee voters must include their driver’s license number or state ID number or, if they don’t have one, the last four digits of their Social Security number on their applications. If they don’t have those IDs, voters can indicate they have not been issued that identification. Counties must match those numbers against the information in an individual’s voter file to approve them for a mail-in ballot.

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/01/13/texas-voting-mail-rejections/

[TreasonousBastard]

1. This is ridiculous. Allowing people to vote should be the default-- like letting them...

have guns unless someone can prove they shouldn't.

Silly comparison, but we have lots of silly comparisons these days. It all seems to be because people are idiots and whatever leadership we have depends upon using those idiocies to control the population.

[YP_Yooper]

2. So what's the issue?

I read the article, and there is worry about senior citizens (really? never had a drivers license, a state ID, or a social security number?)

Building on Democratic proposals, the new voting law also created a new correction process for mail-in voting, including errors on applications. That process begins when county officials provide voters with a notice that their application was rejected and information on how to correct the defect, including through a new online ballot tracker.

I mean these are people who are requesting a mail-in ballot who can't offer any of these IDs, and if not, the officials will help ID them. This isn't reasonable?

In PA, I can request mail-in because I already established who I am and where I live - pretty basic stuff. Sending in a form with just a name and address that the state can't validate doesn't sound reasonable.

[LeftInTX]

3. No, it means that they did not register using their driver's license or social security number.

This would apply to people who registered before 1994.

When you present yourself at a polling location, you provide a photo ID.

However, the driver's license number is NOT entered into the system at that time.

[dem in texas]

4. Name must match exactly

My sister had problem w/this. Used her maiden last name for middle instead of her real middle name, she had a real hassle getting all the required ID right.

[Thunderbeast]

5. Formula for fair elections:

Step ONE: Register everyone with a driver's license or state ID automatically. If a party is not selected, or citizen opts out, they can mail back a post card to confirm.

Step TWO: Mail ballots three weeks prior to election day to every voter along with a voter's guide published by the state. Ballots are returned with a signature on the back of the return envelope. The ballot is enclosed in a secrecy envelope that is separated from the return envelope after the signature is matched to the registration/license signature on file. Defective or ambiguous signatures can be repaired until 48 hours after election deadline.

Step THREE: In election day, go about your daily routine. Do not drive miles to a polling site. Do not stand in line for hours. Do not encounter idiots in red hats challenging your ballot because you may not look like a descendant of someone from the Mayflower. Do not worry about Jewish Space Lasers zapping the voting machine.f

Watch election results on election night knowing that anonymous paper ballots are available for review or re-count.