Here's how to be Sure Your Vote Counts
If you're concerned that you haven't received your mail-in ballot, there are ways to be counted by showing up in person. Officials say ballots are still being sent out with less than a week before Election Day.
Editor's Note: This coverage is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access. The article is available for reprint under the terms of Votebeat’s republishing policy.
Charles Inge has voted in Dallas County from his home in London, England, for more than three decades, mailing in his overseas ballot while he works across the Atlantic as an architect and academic.
Like clockwork, the 65-year-old requests his mail-in, or absentee ballot, every February, and his November ballot arrives in September. But not this year.
County officials told him to check his inbox’s spam folder, but Inge insists he’s not received it.
“If I get a ballot at all, I guess I’ll have to pay to send it by courier at this point to stand a chance that it will arrive,” said Inge.
There is no way to know yet how many absentee ballots have gone missing or are still en route to voters’ mailboxes or — in the case of overseas voters — inboxes. It hasn’t been a major problem in years past, voters say, but there’s no question that the system is strained by a record number of absentee voters in an election marked by unprecedented turnout, pandemic fears and a high-stakes presidential election.
Registered voters can qualify to vote by mail if they are 65 years or older, cite a disability or an illness, or are confined in jail but still eligible to vote. Voters who will not be in the county where they're registered on Election Day and during the entire early voting period can also request a ballot by mail.
Election officials say mail-in ballots are still being sent to voters through this week, and they will be counted as long as they are postmarked by Tuesday, Election Day, and arrive in county offices by Wednesday.
Inge has a last resort — a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, which is the equivalent of a provisional ballot for overseas and military voters and wouldn’t be counted on Election Day, but would before the final vote canvass.
But if a mail-in voter in the U.S. never receives a ballot and can’t make it back home to vote by Election Day, their options evaporate. The possibility has some Texas voters worried about losing their shot and frustrated about the hoops they’re being forced to jump through to get answers.
In Travis County, elections officials are expecting some 100,000 mail-in ballots to be cast in this election. In Harris County, where officials sent out applications to every registered voter over 65, some 250,000 requests for mail-in ballots were received and are being processed — more than double the number from 2016. In Bexar County, the elections office had mailed out more than 115,000 absentee ballots as of Monday, and more requests are being processed as they come in this week. All those numbers are breaking records, county officials said.
Some absentee voters may not see their ballots hit their mailboxes until Halloween, said Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen, acknowledging the “tight window” that scenario creates for many voters. For those who don’t live in the same county, it’s unlikely that a ballot will arrive in the mail the very next day.
“We’re pushing it,” she said. “But that’s how it works.”
What do you do if you haven’t received your mail-in ballot?
Voters worried about mail-in voting can ensure their ballot is counted by showing up at the polls in person, though that's not an option for some who are out of state.
Joaquin Gonzalez, a voting rights attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project, said voters can cancel their absentee ballots or ballot applications at county elections headquarters or, in some counties, the polling sites.
That’s what happened to Texas resident Jonathan Van Ness, an expert on the Netflix series “Queer Eye.” His absentee ballot never arrived at the location where he was going to be working on Election Day, but officials told him it had been mailed out Oct. 8, Van Ness wrote in an Instagram post last week.
Van Ness went to the elections office, filled out the paperwork to cancel his ballot, and then took the paperwork to an early voting site. But because the computer system hadn’t yet updated that action in the system, poll workers told him his only option at that moment was to cast a provisional ballot — which he declined to do.
Provisional ballots are a last resort for people who are in the county but can’t or don’t want to cancel their absentee ballots, or whose registration is in question when they vote. They are counted after Election Day if they are found to qualify, but before the official vote canvass is concluded.
“I want my vote counted period, end of story. Provisional is better than not voting but not ideal,” Van Ness wrote.
Another call to the elections office led to officials expediting his cancellation, and he was able to vote later in the day.
“The point is it took me like four hours to make sure my vote would count,” he wrote. “How many other absentee ballots are lost?”
If the ballot has not been sent, voters can cancel the application and vote in person.
Ken Ward and his wife, Breanna, ended up having to take that action because of an error. The Wards showed up to vote early in Beaumont and were told by the election worker that Breanna Ward had requested an absentee ballot and would need to cancel it.
But she had neither asked for nor received a mail-in ballot, she told the worker.
“When my wife reiterated that she wanted to vote then and there, the worker helped her cancel the absentee ballot,” Ken Ward said. “My wife definitely didn’t request the ballot.”
She got to cast a regular ballot, but the confusion was worrisome.
“It was really peculiar,” said Ward. “And we walked away with sort of a sour taste in our mouths. Just because of everything going on in this particular election, you don’t want any hiccups like that — especially ones you’ve never had before.”
Surrendering the ballot
Some voters say they received their mail-in ballots but became worried about whether their votes would be counted if they weren’t cast in person.
Denise Lynn of Hondo, in Medina County outside San Antonio, said she questioned the integrity of the process.
When her absentee ballot didn’t show up at its usual time in September, elections officials initially told her that her ballot was mailed Oct. 5. It arrived Oct. 22. As Republican state leaders waged a war on the expansion of mail-in voting, Lynn worried that her ballot could be invalidated.
She surrendered her mail-in ballot at an in-person polling site and voted on a machine instead.
“They may pull some shenanigans about not counting our mail-in votes, and I didn’t want to take that chance,” said Lynn, 67.
No application processed
If a voter has sent in an application or requested an application, but the application has not been received or processed, that voter can still vote in person with a regular vote with no affidavit required, Gonzalez said.
The absentee ballot will not be mailed if a vote has already been cast, Gonzalez said.
That’s what Bexar County voter Jacob Anderson did when his wife’s absentee ballot showed up, but his did not, he said.
“I waited as long as possible and figured given the situation, I was better off just voting in person, rather than waiting and possibly not getting my absentee ballot in time and not getting to vote at all,” he wrote in an email.
Worried that he wouldn’t be able to cast a ballot, Anderson drove three hours from Montgomery County back home to Bexar, went to an early voting site and was told that since there was no record of his application being processed yet, he could go ahead and cast a regular vote at the machine.
“They said that if it had been mailed to me, their computer would have notified them when I checked in with the first poll worker,” Anderson said. “I signed next to my name and moved on to the voting machine and voted just like I always have.”
Texans with Disabilities are Eligible for Mail-in Voting
Disability rights activists say they’re worried the confusion may deter at-risk Texans from voting or cause them to needlessly put their health at risk to show up in person at the polls despite being eligible for mail-in voting.
Texans with disabilities are eligible for mail-in voting, but people must decide for themselves if they qualify
"Texans with disabilities are eligible for mail-in voting, but people must decide for themselves if they qualify" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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Citing a disability is among the few reasons that Texans can qualify to vote by mail during the pandemic this November — in addition to being 65 or older, being outside of their county during the election, or being confined to jail but otherwise eligible to vote.
But in recent months, what counts as a disability in Texas has been politicized and litigated. The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that a lack of immunity to the coronavirus is not in itself enough to qualify. Beyond that, the court ruled that voters should decide for themselves if their medical situations meet the state’s criteria.
State law 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.” It gets specific only in saying that “expected or likely confinement for childbirth on election day is sufficient.”
Aside from that, voters are largely left to interpret the law for themselves.
“Individuals are being left up to themselves to make some pretty big eligibility decisions on their own, which can be nerve-wracking and make citizens very concerned about whether or not their choices are justifiable or not,” said Molly Broadway, voting rights specialist at Disability Rights Texas. “A lot of voters are concerned about, will they truly be seen as having a disability for those who do have disabilities?”
Texas is one of five states that hasn’t made mail-in ballots available to those afraid of contracting COVID-19. During a typical year, Texas is one of only 16 states that doesn’t offer no-excuse mail-in voting, which allows voters to request ballots for any reason.
Texans have had the option to cite disability as a reason to receive mail-in ballots since 1935, just two years after the first use of voting by mail. Advocates say the system may have some flaws, but it serves to increase access for many disabled people.
“Our recommendation to most people is, if you can vote by mail, we highly encourage it,” said Donna Meltzer, CEO of the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities. “We think that [helps] keep people with disabilities — who are much more vulnerable to contracting COVID or having greater health conditions — safe and healthy.”
In April, state Democrats and civil rights organizations argued in court that susceptibility to the coronavirus meets the state’s definition for disability. In May, the Texas Supreme Court sided with Attorney General Ken Paxton and ruled that lack of immunity to the virus is not a “physical condition,” and therefore the risk of contracting the virus does not meet the state’s qualifications.
But the court also ruled that voters could evaluate their own health and medical history to determine if they should apply for mail-in ballots during the pandemic based on a disability, as long as they have a “correct understanding of the statutory definition of ‘disability.’”
Abhi Rahman, spokesperson for the Texas Democratic Party, said he believes Texans are going to decide for themselves if they have conditions that qualify as disabilities for mail-in voting.
“Voters are smart enough to make their own decisions, whether or not they want to claim a disability, for whatever disability they might have,” Rahman said. “And really the secretary of state and election officials — they can’t check what the disability actually is. So if voters feel like they are disabled in any way, they should vote in whatever way they’re comfortable with voting in this election.”
On the application to vote by mail, voters are asked to check a box confirming they have a disability and aren’t required to provide any other details.
Voters haven’t been required to provide documentation for their disabilities since 1981, but when filling out their applications, they certify that the information is correct and that they understand giving false information is a crime.
Local election officials, who oversee the distribution of mail-in ballots, do not have the authority to verify a voter’s disability status.
But election experts say it’s unclear whether the Texas attorney general’s office would try to pursue the issue. Paxton and other Texas Republican officials have attacked efforts to broaden mail-in voting as a “threat to Democracy.”
“I applaud the Texas Supreme Court for ruling that certain election officials’ definition of ‘disability’ does not trump that of the Legislature, which has determined that widespread mail-in balloting carries unacceptable risks of corruption and fraud,” Paxton said after the Supreme Court decision. “Election officials have a duty to reject mail-in ballot applications from voters who are not entitled to vote by mail. In-person voting is the surest way to maintain the integrity of our elections, prevent voter fraud and guarantee that every voter is who they claim to be.”
Instances of voter fraud are incredibly rare, and there’s a lack of comprehensive data on the subject. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, lists 1,071 instances since 1982 of proven voter fraud in the U.S. None of the examples include voters incorrectly citing disabilities.
If the attorney general were to pursue a case against someone, citing false information given about a disability, the burden of proof would be on the state to prove a voter isn’t disabled, said Joaquin Gonzalez, attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project.
“They couldn’t just force a voter to prove their disability. They would have to have some evidence showing that the voter was fraudulently claiming it in the first place,” Gonzalez said.
The attorney general’s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Bob Kafka, organizer at ADAPT Texas, a disability advocacy grassroots organization, said the attorney general’s messaging alone is enough to intimidate voters.
“The bottom line is 99% of people with disabilities or people that might be in jeopardy of contracting COVID are totally confused,” Kafka said. “Unfortunately, it has the effect of intimidation. Whether that’s the goal or not, the end result is when you’re threatened with a felony of voting fraud, whether its intent is intimidation, its end result is intimidation."
Disability rights activists say they’re worried the confusion may deter at-risk Texans from voting, or cause them to needlessly put their health at risk to show up in person at the polls despite being eligible for mail-in voting.
Kafka said he and other activists spoke with Secretary of State Ruth Hughs and were assured that county clerks would not ask people who checked the “disability” box to verify their disabilities. But as the attorney general continues to release what Kafka says are “threatening” statements, activists still are not sure it’s enough to convince people to vote.
“We are not promoting voter fraud, but we also don’t want people not to vote,” Kafka said. “We already have one of the most restrictive mail in-ballot processes in the whole country.”
The secretary of state’s office declined to comment for this story.
Disclosure: The Texas secretary of state has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/18/texas-mail-in-voting-disabilities/.
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Texas Supreme Court Blocks Harris County From Mail-in Ballot Applications
The Supreme Court granted the Texas attorney general’s request to temporarily halt the county’s mailing of applications while the case is appealed. A separate order blocking the effort was set to end this week.
Texas Supreme Court again blocks Harris County from sending mail-in ballot applications to all voters
"Texas Supreme Court again blocks Harris County from sending mail-in ballot applications to all voters" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
The Texas Supreme Court has once again blocked Harris County from sending mail-in ballot applications to all its 2.4 million registered voters ahead of the November election.
In a Tuesday order, the Supreme Court granted the Texas attorney general’s request to halt the county’s effort just before a separate order blocking the mailing was set to expire. The all-Republican court told Harris County to hold off on sending any unsolicited applications for mail-in ballots “until further order” and while the case makes its way through the appeals process.
A state district judge had ruled Friday that the county could move forward with its plan, shooting down the state's claim that Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins was acting outside of his authority by sending out the applications. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office claimed in court that the mailing of the applications would confuse voters, quickly appealed that ruling to the state’s 14th Court of Appeals. Paxton kicked the request up to the Supreme Court after the appeals court declined his request to block the lower court's ruling and instead set an expedited schedule to consider the appeal.
The Supreme Court had previously blocked the county from mailing out ballots in line with an agreement between Harris County and the AG’s office to pause the mailings until five days after a ruling from the state district judge. That agreement was set to expire Thursday.
In a statement Tuesday, Paxton celebrated the Supreme Court's order and reiterated his claim that Hollins "knowingly chose to violate Texas election law and undermine election security" — an argument the state district court rejected. On Twitter, Hollins said his was ready to send the applications and accompanying guidance on who qualifies to vote by mail "at the conclusion of this baseless litigation."
Harris County has faced intense criticism from Texas Republicans since announcing it would mail out the applications to every registered voter, going well beyond its initiative from the July primary runoffs when it sent applications to every registered voter in the county who is 65 and older. Under Texas law, those voters automatically qualify for a ballot they can fill out at home and mail-in or drop off at their county elections office.
The legal squabble over who can receive an application for mail-in ballot is part of a broader clash over mail-in voting in Texas during the coronavirus pandemic. The state’s Republican leadership has fought off any form of expansion. Texas also allows voters to cast ballots by mail if they will be out of the county during the election period, confined in jail but otherwise eligible, or if they cite a disability, which the state defines as a physical condition or illness that makes a trip to the polls a risky endeavor.
While lack of immunity to the new coronavirus alone doesn’t qualify a voter for a mail-in ballot based on disability, a voter can consider it along with their medical history to decide if they meet the requirement.
Despite the Supreme Court’s block on sending out any unsolicited application, Harris County has already proactively sent applications for mail-in ballots to voters who are 65 and older — an initiative several other counties are now taking on ahead of the November general election.
The order in the Harris County case was the second issued by the Supreme Court on Tuesday that affects mail-in voting procedures. The state's top civil court also ordered the state to add three Green Party candidates back to the ballot after a judge previously ruled them ineligible. That decision will lead to a scramble at county elections offices, which must update their overseas and military ballots by the Saturday mailing deadline and send new corrected ballots to replace any that had already been mailed.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/15/harris-county-mail-in-ballot-applications/.
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U.S. Supreme Court has rejected voting by mail to all Texas voters during the coronavirus pandemic
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an initial bid by state Democrats to expand voting by mail to all Texas voters during the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. Supreme Court declines Texas Democrats' request to allow all Texans to vote by mail
"U.S. Supreme Court declines Texas Democrats' request to allow all Texans to vote by mail" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an initial bid by state Democrats to expand voting by mail to all Texas voters during the coronavirus pandemic.
Justice Samuel Alito — whose oversight of federal courts includes cases coming through Texas — on Friday issued the court's denial of the Texas Democratic Party’s request to let a federal district judge's order to expand mail-in voting take effect while the case is on appeal. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ruled in May that Texas must allow all voters fearful of becoming infected at polling places to vote by mail even if they wouldn’t ordinarily qualify for mail-in ballots under state election law. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed Biery's order while Texas appeals his ruling.
The decision means the state’s strict rules to qualify for ballots that can be filled out at home will remain in place for the July 14 primary runoff election, for which early voting starts Monday. Under current law, mail-in ballots are available only if voters are 65 or older, cite a disability or illness, will be out of the county during the election period or are confined in jail.
Still left pending is the Democrats separate request for the justices to take up their case before the November general election. The party’s case focuses primarily on the claim that the state's age restrictions for voting by mail violate the 26th Amendment's protections against voting restrictions that discriminate based on age.
The court's only comment on the decision came from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who said she agrees with the ruling but indicated the Democrats' case "raises weighty but seemingly novel questions regarding the Twenty-Sixth Amendment" and urged the appeals court to consider the case in a timely manner before the general election.
"But I hope that the Court of Appeals will consider the merits of the legal issues in this case well in advance of the November election," Sotomayor said.
In order for someone to vote by mail in the July 14 primary runoffs, counties must receive their application for a mail-in ballot by July 2. A favorable decision for Democrats by the Supreme Court by early October could still allow for a massive expansion in voting by mail during the November general election.
In his initial ruling, Biery agreed with individual Texas voters and the Texas Democratic Party that voters would face irreparable harm if existing age eligibility rules for voting by mail remain in place for elections held while the coronavirus remains in wide circulation. And he agreed with the plaintiffs' argument that the age limitation violates the U.S. Constitution because it imposes additional burdens on voters who are younger than 65 during the pandemic.
In his appeal to the 5th Circuit, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued that Biery's injunction threatened "irreparable injury" to the state "by injecting substantial confusion into the Texas voting process mere days before ballots are distributed and weeks before runoff elections."
Democrats and voting rights groups have been fighting the state's restrictions on multiple fronts, but have been so far unsuccessful in making mail-in ballots available to all voters during the pandemic. In a separate case, the Texas Supreme found last month that lack of immunity alone does not meet the state election code's definition of disability, but it could be considered a factor as part of a voter’s medical situation.
The Texas election code defines disability as a “sickness or physical condition” that prevents a voter from appearing in person without the risk of “injuring the voter’s health.” And the Texas Supreme Court reiterated that it is up to voters to assess their own health and determine if they meet the election code's definition of disability.
But the litigation has left some voters confused about the rules, and some who may actually be eligible to vote by mail are instead considering risking exposure to the virus.
“We are disappointed that the Supreme Court did not weigh in now and provide needed relief and clarity for voters ahead of the primary runoff," Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said in a Friday statement. “The case proceeds on in other filings before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Fifth Circuit and therefore, hope remains that the federal courts will restore equal voting rights in time for the November elections."
In a statement following the ruling, Paxton said the court's decision tracks Texas law. "State election officials have many options available to safely and securely hold elections without risking widespread fraud," Paxton said.
There are documented cases of fraud in mail-in voting in Texas. But like voter fraud overall, it remains rare.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/26/us-supreme-court-rejects-texas-democrats-effort-expand-absentee-voting/.
The Texas Tribune is proud to celebrate 10 years of exceptional journalism for an exceptional state. Explore the next 10 years with us.