Abbott considers runoff options

Gov. Greg Abbott acknowledged Tuesday that he has the authority to postpone May 26 runoff elections or conduct them exclusively via mail-in ballots in response to the coronavirus.

“Everything’s on the table,” Abbott told reporters when asked about expanding vote-by-mail.

On Monday, Hearst Newspapers reported that state officials have been kicking around the idea. Currently, Texas allows limited use of vote-by-mail.

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, said because of how low the turnout is, he thinks Texas could easily do an all-mail election to keep people from having to stand in line to vote.

Abbott, however, is not certain he can order the May 2 municipal elections around the state to make similar changes because those are local elections.

“It may only be the municipalities have the power to make that decision, and so there’s that legal issue that we are making a determination on,” Abbott said. “That said, if I don’t have the legal authority, we may provide suggested guidelines.”

Texas is one of the few states that still requires voters to explain why they need to submit an absentee ballot, at least for voters younger than 65. At least 34 states already allow voters to cast ballots by mail. Four states — Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington — conduct elections completely by mail.

In Texas, however, voters who want to cast absentee ballots must check a box to show they are over 65, sick or disabled, away from the county for the duration of voting, or in jail but still eligible to vote.

Already, voting advocacy groups are calling on all states to adopt mail-in voting to make sure voters can cast ballots without risking additional community spread of the coronavirus.

The Texas Civil Rights Project has sent a letter to the Texas Secretary of State arguing that everyone in Texasa already qualifies to vote by mail because they have the risk of being sick.

“Texans should not be asked to choose between their physical well-being and their fundamental right to vote,” said Beth Stevens, legal director of the nonprofit group’s Voting Rights Program. “The Secretary of State should act quickly within her authority to issue guidance to counties, so they can prepare for the logistics of more mail-in-ballot applications. There’s a lot of uncertainty, but luckily, the Texas Legislature gave us this process in the election code and we can rely on it now.”