Texans: Don’t register to vote online. It’s illegal. Here’s how to fix it if you did
Texans who registered to vote online may very well not be registered to vote.
That’s the warning from election officials as the Texas Secretary of State’s office is reaching out to more than 2,000 potential voters primarily in Bexar, Cameron, Dallas and Travis counties — who tried to register online to vote through a vote.org program that was launched in those communities — to let them know online voter registration is not legal in Texas.
Those Texans will be getting notices from their county election officials stating that they need to sign and resubmit their applications within 10 days.
“We remind all eligible Texas voters that online voter registration is not available in the State of Texas,” Secretary of State Rolando Pablos said. “Any web site that misleadingly claims to assist voters in registering to vote online by simply submitting a digital signature is not authorized to do so.
“All Texas voters should be extremely cautious when handing over personal and sensitive information to any unknown third party.”
Heider Garcia, Tarrant County’s elections administrator, said he hasn’t been notified that any local voters were impacted by the vote.org registration effort.
The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 6 election is Tuesday, Oct. 9. But those impacted by the online registration effort still have 10 days to return their notice, even if it’s past the Oct. 9 deadline, said Sam Taylor, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office.
“Our agency is working hard to ensure that any voters who were misled into submitting their digital signatures online through Vote.org have ample opportunity to submit a valid application,” Taylor said.
Here’s how to find out if you are registered to vote:
▪ You can check your status online at the Texas Secretary of State’s website, votetexas.gov.
▪ Call your local elections office. In Tarrant County, that number is 817-831-8683. Or you can go online tarrantcounty.com/elections.
Voter registration applications are available online; at the Tarrant County Elections Administration, 2700 Premier St.; and at subcourthouses, city halls, libraries and post offices.
They must be dropped off at the election office or clearly postmarked by Oct. 9.
To register to vote in Texas, you must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 by Election Day, mentally sound and not a convicted felon unless the sentence has been completed, including parole or probation. For new residents in the state, there’s no requirement stipulating how long you must live here before registering to vote.
Taylor stressed that Texas voters can do two registration tasks online — update their address if they moved and are still in the same county and update any name changes.
This story was originally published October 4, 2018 at 12:36 PM.