Here’s how to get a mail-in ballot for Texas’ July 14 election
The July 14 election is right around the corner.
And coronavirus cases are on the rise, prompting many to wonder if they can vote by mail.
Lawsuits over theissue have been ricocheting through the courts for months, so far not changing the eligibility of who can request an absentee ballot.
“People are concerned,” Jeff Miller, a policy specialist with Disability Rights Texas, said during a recent League of Women Voters webinar about voting accommodations in Texas.
So here’s what is known.
Anyone planning to vote by mail in the July 14 election — which in Tarrant County includes Democratic and Republican primary runoffs and a city of Fort Worth sales tax for police — must request a ballot by July 2.
State law says that to qualify to vote by mail under Texas law, voters must be 65 or older, disabled, out of the county during early voting and on Election Day or confined in jail but still eligible to vote.
The Texas Election Code defines a disability as “a sickness or physical condition that prevents the voter from appearing at the polling place on election day without a likelihood of needing personal assistance or of injuring the voter’s health.”
Texas Supreme Court justices have warned, in the midst of unsuccessful lawsuits seeking to open up absentee ballots to all Texans during COVID-19, that a fear of becoming sick with coronavirus is not a disability.
And Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently sent a warning letter to county judges and election officials noting that “a ballot by mail is not available based purely on lack of immunity to COVID-19 or based on a desire to engage in social distancing to avoid exposure to the virus.”
“We can’t tell you if a certain medical condition puts you in that (disability) category,” Christina Adkins, a staff attorney with the Texas Secretary of State, said during the recent voting webinar.
“The best person to decide if you have a disability ... is you,” Miller added.
In Tarrant County, more than 28,000 mail-in ballots were requested before early voting started, said Heider Garcia, the elections administrator.
That’s up from the 21,191 mail-in ballots requested for the presidential primary runoff in May 2016, Tarrant data shows.
“I think it’s expected, given the circumstances,” Garcia said. “There’s definitely a lot of activity from people who probably didn’t ask for these ballots in the past.
“People still have concerns about their health.”
Anyone who requests a mail-in ballot, properly fills out the application and checks one of qualifying boxes will get a ballot in the mail, Garcia said.
There is no place on the application to list what the disability is.
Adkins noted that there’s “no investigation into anyone who requests a ballot under (the disability) condition.”
She and Miller stressed that anyone who has applied for a mail-in ballot in the past citing a disability may continue to ask for mail-in ballots.
“Nothing has changed at the moment,” Adkins said. “It’s up to the voter to determine if they meet the disability criteria.”
On the ballot
Here’s a look at what will be on the July 14 runoff and local election ballot in Tarrant County. Early voting runs from June 29-July 10. Polls will be closed July 3rd and 4th because of the holiday.
▪ Democrats will choose between Mary “MJ” Hegar and Royce West for U.S. Senate; Kim Olson and Candace Valenzuela for U.S. Rep. District 24; Roberto R. “Beto” Alonzo and Chrysta Castañeda for Railroad Commissioner; and John Wright and Pedro “Pete” Munoz for County Constable Precinct 5.
▪ Republicans will choose between: Elizabeth Beach and Brian Walker for the 2nd Court of Appeals District Place 7 and Jonathan Grummer and John Brieger for Precinct Chair 3990.
▪ Fort Worth residents will vote whether to continue the Fort Worth Crime Control and Prevention District sales tax for 10 years.
Election information
Election officials ask that voters cast their ballots during early voting, if they can, to reduce lines on Election Day. And they ask that voters review sample ballots ahead of time to make the voting process, and lines, move faster.
Curbside voting is an option. It allows any voter, particularly those who have a hard time walking or standing, cast a ballot from their car. But Garcia stresses that it is a slow process that requires poll workers to bring outside the poll book then the ballot and equipment for the person to vote.
“It is not designed to process a million voters,” he said. “If every single person tries to vote curbside, lines will go around the block.
To look at a sample ballot, visit tarrantcounty.com/elections.
For information about voting, call the Tarrant County Elections Center at 817-831-8683 or visit VoteTexas.gov.
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 12:00 AM.
