Texas primary season: A loss for democracy
VARSHINI REGUPATHY: Primary season in Texas has just come to a close and the results are in: a loss for the people of Texas, and a loss for democracy. The main story from the March primaries is as follows: a shocking number of mail-in ballots rejected due to the new voting regulations encased in Senate Bill 1 (SB1), a newly signed bill that mandates confusing ID requirements and bans drive through voting, among other restrictive regulations. According to the Associated Press, the ballot rejection rate in this election was 13%, a shocking number compared to previous years’ average rejection rate of 1 to 2%. This rapid increase in ballot rejections has made it vastly more difficult to vote and discouraged many voters from doing so in the future. Like every election primary, some candidates lost and while others claimed victory, but this Texas primary will be infamous for an attack on our democratic systems through startling voter suppression.
The confusing and demanding requirements of the newly passed SB1 resulted in the rejection of a shocking amount of Texas ballots. Following the 2020 election, Texas Republicans passed SB1 to disenfranchise voters under the guise of voter fraud. Though experts repeatedly emphasized that widespread claims of voter fraud were bogus, Texas Republicans followed the lead of former President Donald Trump and put on a blatant display of political theater, passing stringent regulations such as a ban on drive-through voting and new ID restrictions.
The main issue with the rejected ballots seems to be the confusing nature of these new ID restrictions. Texas law now requires both the last four digits of an individual’s social security number as well as their driver’s license number in order for the ballot to be counted. Unfortunately, many Texans were left unaware of these new regulations and therefore failed to comply.
For example, in Harris County, the county encompassing the greater Houston area, voter ID issues accounted for 99.6% of ballot rejections. Without enough time and resources for comprehensive and effective voter education, it was simply impossible for Texas voters to update their voter registration in compliance with the new extensive requirements. Given this failure, it is hard to believe that Texas officials were unaware of the dire consequences these regulations would have on the Texans’ ability to vote. The result is rampant voter suppression that has plagued democracy in the state of Texas.
It is important to recognize that this de facto voter suppression is not affecting every Texan equally. Texas already has a rather restrictive eligibility criteria for being allowed to vote by mail, meaning that many of the thousands of rejected ballots likely belonged to Texans with disabilities and the elderly. There was also a significant gap between the two parties in terms of ballot rejections, with the rejection rate of Democratic leaning counties being 15% compared to a rate of 9.1% in Republican leaning counties.
Even more sinister is the racial gap that emerged through analysis of the ballot rejections. According to the New York Times, voters from predominantly black areas of Harris County were 44% more likely to have their ballots rejected than their counterparts in predominantly white areas. The gaps in rejected ballots point to a very alarming, but not surprising, takeaway from the March primaries. Not only is there de facto voter suppression in the state of Texas, but it is disproportionately affecting communities of color and other marginalized groups.
Many articles and the general discourse on social media are displaying stories of individuals in Texas who made absolutely sure that their ballots were counted. Countless stories detail the rejection of a voters’ mail-in ballots and a brave commitment to vote in-person on election day. While this is a strong display of civic duty and a very inspiring narrative, this is not reality in most cases in Texas. Some people simply do not have the ability to devote that amount of time to ensuring that their vote is counted and it is not their job to do so. Ensuring that every vote is counted and that peoples’ voices are heard is supposed to be the job of elected officials, whom the public entrusted with that precious responsibility. In a state where voter turnout is already low, officials should be making it easier for voters to participate in the democratic process, not harder.