AUSTIN, Texas — The two newest election reform bills in the Texas Legislature contain a provision that could potentially force counties to automatically reject mail-in ballot applications, according to a report from Texas Monthly.
Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 3 would require voters to submit their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. The number would then be cross-checked with the Texas’s voter-registration database.
However, Texas Monthly reports that 11% of Texas voters, about 1.9 million, only have one of those two numbers filed with the state. So if a voter chose the number the state didn’t have, the application would be rejected.
In his testimony in the Texas House on July 10, Williamson County elections administrator Chris Davis explained that many people with only one number on file would not remember which they filed and they'd have to guess.
“You have a 50% chance of the voter guessing wrong,” said Davis. “I challenge any person on the committee: Do you remember what you filled out when you got your voter registration? I certainly don’t. And I’m in the business of this. And if [the numbers] don’t match, we’re rejecting.”
The Texas State Senate passed SB1 earlier this month. However, since the majority of House Democrats are still in Washington, D.C., breaking quorum, no action can be taken on either bill.
The Texas Monthly report claims lawmakers were aware of the problem.
To read the full Texas Monthly report, click here.
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