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Fewer Dallas mail-in ballots are being rejected compared to the March primary

Miguel Gutierrez Jr.
/
The Texas Tribune

Elections officials cited a voter outreach effort as one cause for the significant drop in rejections.

As early voting ends and with Election Day just around the corner, the Dallas County elections office said there are fewer mail-in ballots being rejected for the 2022 general election compared to this year's primaries.

As of Thursday, about 1.4% – or 280 ballots – out of more than 28,000 were rejected.

Nick Solorzano, communications manager for Dallas County elections, said that's a "significant" drop.

"We saw a lot of issues early on," Solorzano said. "We did a pretty aggressive education campaign outreach to get a bunch of those corrected."

The trend is occurring in other parts of Texas as well. Harris County, the state's largest county, also saw a significant drop in rejections.

Counties across the state saw an increase in mail-in ballot rejections during the March primaries after the passage of Senate Bill 1. The law requires people who vote by mail to include a driver’s license or social security number in their application, but the number must match the data a person submitted when they originally registered.

Critics of the law say the requirements are confusing and meant to disenfranchise voters.

More than 12% of mail-in ballots — or almost 25,000 votes — were rejected statewide during the primaries.

Only voters who qualify can vote by mail – including elderly, disabled and incarcerated voters.

Election Day is Tuesday.

Got a tip? Email Pablo Arauz Peña at parauzpena@kera.org

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Pablo Arauz Peña is the Growth and Infrastructure Reporter for KERA News.