Voting in Texas is already difficult, experts say. Will the Republican bills change that?
As Texas lawmakers debate the passage of Republican-led election bills, experts say the effects of the legislation may be limited as the state already has some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country.
Texas Democrats made headlines on Monday after more than 50 representatives left the state for Washington, D.C., in an effort to block Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 3. The bills, priority voting items for GOP leadership, are being hotly contested during the Texas Legislature’s special session.
Democrats killed an election bill during the regular legislative session when they walked out of the House floor hours before the session ended, prompting Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to call the special session.
Republicans, empowered by former president Donald Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud during the 2020 election, are presenting these bills as a way to make elections more secure.
Democrats say the bills are an attempt to disenfranchise marginalized Texans and infringe on their freedoms to vote.
Experts say the reality is a bit more complicated, as the bills won’t make voting easier, but instead are targeting specific measures local governments used to accommodate voters during the pandemic.
Thomas Marshall, a political science professor at UT Arlington, said the bills are predominantly reactions to voting measures taken in Harris County and may ultimately affect only a relatively small percentage of people.
During the 2020 presidential election, Harris County initiated drive-thru voting, pioneered 24-hour voting at certain locations and attempted to proactively send mail-in ballot applications to all registered voters.
Both SB 1 and HB 3 ban drive-thru voting, 24-hour voting and prohibit election officials from sending unsolicited mail-in ballot applications. These voting measures were never initiated in most other counties and were not used before the pandemic.
“It mildly makes voting less easy,” he said. “But only in the places like Harris County where they pushed the envelope in the last election.”
Other provisions include setting a new ID requirement to verify vote-by-mail applications, requiring monthly citizenship reviews in the statewide voter registration list, requiring judges to inform someone if they are prohibited from voting because of a felony, and strengthening the autonomy of partisan poll watchers — individuals appointed by a candidate or by a political party to observe polling places or ballot counts.
Peggy Hendon, president of the League of Women Voters of Tarrant County, said there is a concern about the amount of latitude that’s being given to partisan poll watchers.
“They have more latitude than an actual election worker,” she said.
The League of Women Voters of Texas, a nonpartisan organization, partnered with local, state and national organizations to support legislators who spoke out against the regular session bills, according to its website.
“Texans want elections to be free, fair, and accessible,” said Grace Chimene, president of League of Women Voters of Texas, in a statement. “They want a transparent process they can trust, where Americans have equal freedom to vote, no matter what they look like or where they live.”
How hard is it to vote in Texas?
Texas ranks 45th in ease of voting compared to other states, according to a 2020 study by political scientists from Northern Illinois University, Jacksonville University and Wuhan University that measures “cost of voting index.”
The index uses dozens of election laws to rank each state according to the time and effort it takes to vote in presidential elections, combining elements of registration and ballot casting.
Texas has the harshest voter ID law in the country, said Michael Pomante, assistant professor of political science and public policy at Jacksonville University and one of the main researchers of the “cost of voting index.”
Texas requires voters to present photo identification, such as a Texas driver’s license, U.S. passport or Texas handgun license. If they don’t have a photo ID, they may qualify to vote if they present a document such as a utility bill, bank statement or birth certificate and fill out a form stating they have a “reasonable impediment to procuring an acceptable form of photo identification,” according to the Secretary of State.
The ID law was adopted after the U.S. Supreme court overturned Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, which required Texas to obtain preapproval from the Department of Justice to ensure that voting laws did not discriminate.
The state’s registration deadline 30 days before the Election Day, no online voting registration opportunities, no state holiday, increasingly reduced polling locations and drop boxes, limited pre-registration for those under 18, and strict absentee and mail-in ballot casting make voting in Texas more restrictive for the average citizen, Pomante said.
While other states have made voting laws easier in past years — Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Vermont and Virginia are working to expand voting by mail, early voting and voter registration — Texas legislators have been unwilling to adopt policies that make voting easier, he said.
Despite this, the 2020 presidential election had the highest voter turnout in Texas since 1992.
Two of the main reasons the state isn’t at the bottom of the list is because of Texas’ 13-day early voting period and because of voters’ ability to vote outside of their precinct.
The bills proposed by Texas Republicans are a part of a wave of voting bills across the country being pushed by Republican lawmakers in a number of states like Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Any legislation that increases the amount of time and effort that citizens need in order to vote makes it less likely for people to participate in elections, ultimately hurting democracy, Pomante said.
“We are eliminating individuals from the process that allows them a voice within the system,” he said. “When we exclude or limit people’s ability to voice their concerns, they lash out in other ways.”
Effects of the bills
James Riddlesperger, political science professor at TCU, said there is no telling what the final bill is going to look like because of potential negotiations.
Republicans have made concessions, like changing a provision that initially limited Sunday voting hours.
The bills also add an extra hour to early voting, lower the population threshold for counties that are required to provide expanded hours of early voting in state elections and add a correction process for mail-in ballots.
Riddlesperger said the bill will ultimately pass, but both parties will ultimately adjust and reorganize their efforts to get out the vote for the midterm elections. He said it’ll be in 2022 when the true effects of the bills will be able to be measured.
“Some of these things that seem like big issues now will not seem like big issues going into the 2022 elections,” he said. “And some of the things that we aren’t talking about now might become bigger barriers.”
