Posted on Mar 16, 2022
In Texas, thousands of mail ballots were rejected following new ID requirements
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https://www.npr.org/2022/03/16/ [login to see] /texas-mail-ballot-rejection-final-rates-harris-williamson-counties
Thousands of Texas voters had their mail ballots rejected in this month's primary, after the state's controversial new voting law created additional ID requirements.
Local election officials say the new identification requirements as a result of the Republican-backed law tripped up many eligible voters in the March 1 primary.
Perhaps most notably, in Harris County — home to Houston, and the state's most populous county — officials said they rejected a whopping 19% percent of the mail ballots they received, or 6,888 mail ballots in total.
During the primary election in 2018, the county had only rejected 135 mail ballots out of more than 48,000, election officials said in a statement. That's less than 0.3%.
But the issues were widespread, as final figures have come out. In Williamson County — a historically Republican suburban county north of Austin that's been turning blue in the past few years — officials there rejected 11.5% of returned mail ballots.
Chris Davis, the county's elections administrator, said he has "never seen this number [of rejections] before." He said in past elections, rejection rates were usually in the "low single digits."
Thousands of Texas voters had their mail ballots rejected in this month's primary, after the state's controversial new voting law created additional ID requirements.
Local election officials say the new identification requirements as a result of the Republican-backed law tripped up many eligible voters in the March 1 primary.
Perhaps most notably, in Harris County — home to Houston, and the state's most populous county — officials said they rejected a whopping 19% percent of the mail ballots they received, or 6,888 mail ballots in total.
During the primary election in 2018, the county had only rejected 135 mail ballots out of more than 48,000, election officials said in a statement. That's less than 0.3%.
But the issues were widespread, as final figures have come out. In Williamson County — a historically Republican suburban county north of Austin that's been turning blue in the past few years — officials there rejected 11.5% of returned mail ballots.
Chris Davis, the county's elections administrator, said he has "never seen this number [of rejections] before." He said in past elections, rejection rates were usually in the "low single digits."
In Texas, thousands of mail ballots were rejected following new ID requirements
Posted from npr.org
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 5
Posted 2 y ago
How am I supposed to remember what I gave the Board of Elections 30 years ago when I can't remember last week?
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Posted 2 y ago
"Davis says he understands the reason behind the ballot's design is the need to shield personally identifiable information."
Here's an idea. Don't use PII for ballots. Older citizens and disabled were the most rejected and when technicalities are causing a legitimate citizen's vote from being counted, it does beg the question about just how democratic the process is.
Here's an idea. Don't use PII for ballots. Older citizens and disabled were the most rejected and when technicalities are causing a legitimate citizen's vote from being counted, it does beg the question about just how democratic the process is.
(2)
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Posted 2 y ago
How many of those ballots were cast by Democrats? Or who voted for Democrats?
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