Expand mail voting

Any system that hinders the right of Texans to cast a ballot is inherently flawed.

No one should have to choose between protecting their health and exercising their right to vote.

Yet state officials want Texans to do just that. In what can only be understood as another example of voter suppression, they’re senselessly opposing expansion of absentee voting during the coronavirus outbreak.

Last month, a state district judge agreed with the Texas Democratic Party and civil rights groups that fear of exposure to the novel coronavirus is valid reason for Texans to vote by mail during the pandemic. That didn’t stop Attorney General Ken Paxton sending a letter May 1 threatening criminal charges against election officials who followed the judge’s ruling.

Paxton, claiming that the court’s decision is stayed during appeal — and even if it were effective, would have no bearing outside Travis County — reargued his case for why he opposes the change.

“Mail ballots based on disability are specifically reserved for those who are legitimately ill and cannot vote in-person without assistance or jeopardizing their health,” he said in a statement. “The integrity of our democratic election process must be maintained, and law established by our Legislature must be followed consistently.”

But Paxton’s own letter concedes that the “disability” provision that qualifies Texans to vote by mail covers those whose health is put at risk by voting in person.

The law is clear, Harris County Special Assistant Attorney Douglas Ray told the editorial board, adding the judge made the right call. The provision allowing those who are disabled to vote by mail makes anyone whose condition would pose a threat to their own health, or that of others, eligible to request an absentee ballot, Ray said.

Without a widely available vaccine, we are all in a condition that merits voting by mail.

Paxton’s letter appears to be more about politics than the law, Ray told the board.

“What they’re trying to do is encourage confusion, so people will not exercise their voting rights,” he said. “And in threatening prosecution they are very close to intimidation.” Texas has a long history of voter suppression. As recently as last year, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made Senate Bill 9 a priority. It would have made it harder for some marginalized populations to cast a ballot and criminalized even honest mistakes on registration forms. The bill mercifully died in the House, pairing nicely with a botched voter purge by then-Texas Secretary of State David Whitley.

While Paxton argues voters shouldn’t fear COVID-19, some in his party certainly seem afraid of voters. In a case of saying the quiet part out loud, President Donald Trump revealed why. Speaking on “Fox & Friends” on March 30, Trump talked about efforts by Democrats to include funding for absentee and vote-by-mail options in the initial economic stimulus bill.

“The things they had in there were crazy,” the president said. “They had things, levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”

Even if true, that’d be a terrible reason to maintain barriers to voting. But it’s not even real. Nationwide studies have shown that voting by mail does not favor one party over another. In Harris County, absentee ballots have been traditionally used more by GOP voters, including those who voted straightticket Republican, officials said.

Pressure by Paxton has not kept Harris County from preparing for an increase in absentee ballots, which are cast by mail. Last week, Commissioners Court approved up to $12 million to cover the costs of voting by mail, including printing, postage, staff and additional scanning equipment.

That’s good for Harris County and for voters in other large counties that are taking similar measures — but what about the rest of the state? If county clerks must wait for the courts to decide, those decisions may be too late to leave time to adequately plan for increased vote-by-mail, leading to an Election Day disaster.

So far, state officials have sent mixed messages. Paxton has vowed to crack down, Secretary of State Ruth Hughs has remained noncommittal and Gov. Greg Abbott has stayed on the sidelines.

Voting is a fundamental right. To set up a system that hinders that right is inherently flawed.