Texans: If you have a problem while voting, there’s a hotline to call for help
A hotline to help voters who have questions about voting or who experience problems at the polls went live Tuesday on the first day of early voting in Texas.
It’s called the Texas Election Protection Coalition, a nonpartisan effort to make sure all registered Texans can cast ballots that are “fairly and accurately counted.”
“Eligible voters should have the opportunity to vote without barriers,” said Gabrielle Velasco, national coordinator of Election Protection for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.
The Texas Election Protection Coalition is a group of more than 30 groups led by the Texas Civil Rights Project, Common Cause Texas, the ACLU of Texas, the League of Women Voters of Texas and the lawyers’ committee.
Voting rights experts and trained volunteers staff six hotlines that Texas voters may call if they have questions or problems at the polls. They are:
▪ 866-OUR-VOTE — English
▪ 888-Ve-Y-Vota — Spanish and English
▪ 888-API-VOTE — Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Bengali also known as Bangla, Hindi, Urdu, Korean, Tagalog and English
▪ 844-Yalla-US — Arabic and English
▪ 301-818-VOTE — American Sign Language (Video Call)
▪ 888-796-8683 — Disability Rights Texas
Two years ago, during the midterm election, problems reported to the Election Protection Coalition affected more than 275,000 Texas voters.
This year, more than 200 Election Protection volunteers will be spread out at polling sites across the state.
The volunteers will check the registration status for people told they aren’t on the vote roll, try to help voters turned away from the polls and work to remove barriers to voting, ranging from intimidation to people giving out wrong information.
“We’re expecting historic levels of participation in this election and we’ve built a Texas-sized grassroots operation to meet the challenge,” said Anthony Gutierrez, Executive Director of Common Cause Texas.
Early voting started Tuesday in Texas and lasts through Feb. 28.
