Voting by mail just got a bit more difficult

Asmall change took place during the state special legislative session last year, one that at least one local election administrator expects will make it harder for Texans to apply to vote by mail.

Texans who want to apply to vote by mail in the state now must do so by mail. In the past, voters also could apply by email or fax. Those options still exist, but they must be supplemented with a mailed application, received by the early voting clerk after no more than four business days.

The change, which was passed as part of SB 5, would “make it more challenging for voters to apply for that ballot,” Fort Bend County Election Administrator John Oldham wrote in a news release.

Voters were able to begin submitting applications Jan. 1. It was too early to tell what effect — if any — the new law might have.

“It’s just an inconvenience to the voters,” Oldham said by phone.

In the March 2016 primary, 4,198 people voted by mail in Fort Bend County, according to online secretary of state records. In Harris County, 33,814 people voted by mail.

Sam Taylor, spokesperson for the secretary of state, said the office could not comment on the law.

“Our office doesn’t write laws,” Taylor said. “We administer elections. … That’s the law we are charged with administering.”

State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, who represents part of Fort Bend County, was a co-author of the bill.

“Every Texan’s right to vote is sacred, that’s why the State of Texas took action to fight mail-in ballot fraud with Senate Bill 5,” she said in a prepared statement in response to a request for comment.

To be eligible for the March primaries, applications to vote by mail must be received by Feb. 23.