I’d like to talk about voting by mail in Texas (a thread). As someone who crunches election numbers and maintains a file of all voters in the state, I have some issues with sending everyone a ballot like some other states do (or are suggesting). (1/x) #txlege

While the registration rolls are pretty accurate, there are still issues with multiple records and records with bad information.

Example #1: Until last year, I had a friend who was registered in both Travis and Dallas Counties. Would he have receive two ballots? (2/x)

Example #2: I purchased my house in May 2016. Since then, I have received voter registration cards (twice) for the previous owner. As of today, he is still listed as an active voter at my address. Would I receive his ballot? (3/x)

I signed a new candidate running for state house. Prior to providing any data to them, I ran an address update (NCOA). Of the 107k registered voters in the district, 13,673 had moved, had a bad address, or had no forwarding address. See attached. (4/x)

Would all of those people be sent a ballot?
Where would the ballots to bad addresses end up?
If the ballots are forwarded to a new address outside of the jurisdiction, would that person get to vote for someone else’s local elected officials? (5/x)

13k ballots may not sound like a lot to some people, but if you’ve been involved in Texas politics long enough, you know how many races have been decided by fewer votes than that. (6/x)

Next, due to the high number of ballots which would be mailed, it would be near impossible for anyone to verify a signature match on every returned ballot.

Now what happens if there is a close race and the losing candidate wants a recount? (7/x)

The losing candidate is going to have to pay for a recount? Reviewing tens of thousands of mailed ballots is going to be expensive and time consuming. A federal or legislative candidate could likely afford it. A precinct or county candidate? Maybe not so much. (8/x)

Lastly, every cycle I hear complaints from county clerks / election administrators who are upset with the number of ballots by mail they have to process. They say the don’t have the resources. That’s maybe with only 10% of votes being cast by mail. (9/x)

If the ballot by mail total is four or five times that amount, how will these local offices be able to handle being inundated with completed ballots? (10/x)

I think there are other alternatives to dealing with this situation.

Expanding the amount of time for early voting would reduce crowds and lines.

Also, polling locations should be examined. I vote in the lobby of an elementary school. Machines are packed in there. (11/x)

Is there a possibility that portions of a school gyms could be sectioned off and then have machines distanced 6+ ft apart from each other?

There are other more-secure options. (12/12)