Mail-in Ballots

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

New or unregistered Texans have until Tuesday, Oct. 11 to have their voter registration applications postmarked. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Texas Republican Party leaders want the state to adopt laws that would shorten the early voting period and no longer allow mail-in voting for anyone 65 and up.

According to the state, 12.87% of Democratic mail-in ballots were rejected, and 11.77% of Republican ballots were rejected.

The Democratic nominee for governor slammed the Republican incumbent in harsh terms, presaging a bitter lead-up to an election nearly eight months away.

Local election officials say a higher percentage of voters than normal had their ballots rejected because of ID issues.

In just 16 of the state’s largest counties, more than 18,000 mail-in ballots were rejected, most for failing to meet the new law’s ID requirements. A full statewide tally isn’t yet available.

How many voters were effectively disenfranchised by new ID requirements for mail-in voting won’t be known for another week. Voters can still try to correct defective ballots.

In the state's largest counties, voter turnout was below 5 percent during the first seven days of early voting. Election officials said some Texans could still be making up their minds before Election Day on March 1.

Patrick’s mass mailing urging voters to apply for mail-in ballots included return envelopes addressed to the Texas secretary of state’s office. The applications are supposed to be sent to local offices, but Patrick’s campaign says voters don’t trust election officials in Democratic counties.

Local elections officials say an unexpectedly large number of ballots for the March primary are being initially rejected for lacking newly required ID information.