Texas policies appear to curb voter turnout
AUSTIN — Despite holding the most expensive and closelywatched U.S. Senate election in the nation last year, Texas still ranked among the 10 worst states for voter turnout in 2018, according to a new report on voting trends.
About 46 percent of eligible Texas voters cast a ballot in the November election, up from 29 percent four years earlier, according to “America Goes to the Polls 2018,” a report from Nonprofit VOTE and the US Elections Project. While the number of voters jumped, the turnout places Texas 41st in the country for voter turnout — up from 50th in the 2014 election.
The national report blames Texas’ poor ranking on a deadline that cuts off voter registration four weeks before Election Day. Most states in the bottom 15 for voter turnout require people to register to vote at least a month before the election. Most states with the highest turnout allow for same-day voter registration, according to the report.
“The November midterm election shattered records for voter turnout,” says Brian Miller, Executive Director at Nonprofit VOTE, “but beneath the recordsetting turnout is a vast gap in turnout between states that speaks volumes about the impact state policies play in voter turnout.”
The League of Women Voters of Texas argues it’s time that the state “joins the modern age” and allows for same-day voter registration, according to an email Tuesday from the group representing more than 8,000 voters who encourage participation in government.
Texas lawmakers have filed legislation to allow online voter registration, including House Bill 361. The bill, sponsored by Democrats but also supported by some Republicans, has yet to get a hearing.
Current Texas law requires voter registration applications include a handwritten signature, which cannot be a copy, digital signature or a photograph of a signature.
The report comes as voter advocates are in court fighting the Texas Secretary of State’s botched attempt to purge noncitizen voters from the rolls in January. The secretary of state sent to counties a list of 95,000 voters the office suspected of being non-citizens, and therefore ineligible in late January. Local elections officials quickly found tens of thousands of voters who are citizens had been wrongly included in the list.