When any government makes a change, there is often good news and bad news.
That adage applies to the new Texas Election Integrity law which went into effect on December 2, 2021,* which has added several complications to the mail ballot application process this year.
First, the good news, the tagline for this law was: “easy to vote and hard to cheat.” In order to get to the “hard to cheat” part, there are some challenges along the way.
The first is to ensure that all registered voters have two documents on file at their county elections office: either their state-issued driver’s license number or personal ID number AND the last four digits of their social security number.
In our very mobile society – which means updating your voter registration when you move – many voters already have checked off that box and are compliant with this new law.
However, for seniors who are 65 years or older and have not moved in more than 20 years, voting by mail may present a challenge this year. Once Elections has this extra information, it will be easy to vote by mail like in previous years. However, changes in this new law will force Elections to reject your mail ballot request if this information is not on file with their office.
The deadline to request mail ballots is February 18, so there is plenty of time. However, because these extra steps add additional processing time this year, don’t wait until the last day.
Take care of this as soon as possible by following the directions here exactly as written, and it should be an easy process.
There are two scenarios here – voters who can print forms at home and voters who need to request forms from the Bexar County Elections Department.
Option 1: If you can print forms, download the mail ballot application at Bexar County Elections HERE and a voter registration application from the state HERE. Complete BOTH forms and send both forms to Bexar County Elections, 1103 S. Frio, Suite 100, San Antonio, TX 78207.
Option 2: If you cannot print forms, you can request them from the Bexar County Elections Office. Either call 210-335-8683 or fax 210-335-0371 with your request. They will provide you with both forms.
Once Elections has mailed both forms to you, and you have received the forms, follow the directions for Option 1 and mail the two forms back to Bexar County Elections.
Before mailing to the Bexar County Elections Office, three things to double-check before dropping your mail ballot request envelope in the mail:
1. Be sure to provide Elections with your phone number and email (so if there are any questions), they will be able to contact you and save valuable processing time.
2. Make sure BOTH the mail ballot request form AND voter registration form are sent in the SAME envelope.
3. On your mail ballot form, make sure you request GOP primary AND GOP primary run-off.
Remember if you only send a mail ballot request to the Elections Office and they do not have your driver’s license or personal ID number AND the last four digits of your social security number in their file, they must reject your mail ballot request, send you new forms, and you will have to fill the forms out again and re-send to the Elections Office.
This year: remember to always include your phone number AND email with all correspondence.
*If the Democrats had not abandoned their legislative duties last year, this law would have gone into effect sooner last fall, and everyone would have had more time to adjust to the new requirements regarding mail ballot applications in the new Election Integrity law.
