PROGRESSIVE VIEWS
Vote-by-mail is also called vote-at-home or absentee voting. It’s increasing throughout the United States because it’s a great way to improve voter turnout, reduce election costs and maintain security.
The Vote at Home Institute is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to ensuring the security of our elections and putting voters needs first. In the 2024 general election, 11.3 million citizens voted in Texas, only 61% of registered voters. This puts Texas near the bottom of all states in voter participation.
In Kendall County, 29,563 folks voted in the general election for 76% turnout. We should be proud that we eclipse Texas as a whole, but our state’s turnout should be much better.
In February, the Vote at Home Institute reviewed state voting policies. They ranked states using 15 criteria; the higher the number, the more voter friendly. As you might imagine, Texas only got 16 out of a possible 65 points, where states like Utah, Colorado, Oregon, Virginia, California, Washington, Nevada and Hawaii were all over 55 points. They all use the voteat- home system. Connecticut, a liberal-leaning state, actually scored worse than Texas with only 12 points.
On the positive side, thanks to great work by our elections office, countywide voting was implemented in 2019. This is definitely voter-friendly and means we can vote in any polling place in the county, not just in our precinct.
Some Republicans in the Texas Legislature want to eliminate countywide voting, which is a terrible idea. The election equipment that Kendall County uses continues to perform wonderfully. It has the advantage of creating a paper ballot that could be used to verify election results.
This is not unlike what happens with a vote-at-home system. However, the vote-athome system is much easier for the voter, because voters don’t have to take time off work, travel to a polling place or stand in lines. Voters can spend as long as they want reviewing their ballot at home.
Efforts by the current administration to curtail vote-by-mail must be stopped. The American Civil Liberty Union is fighting this draconian effort to restrict voting in court and had this to say: “The Constitution is clear: the states and Congress — not the president — set the rules for our elections. The Trump administration is attempting to seize that power for itself with an unlawful and dangerous executive order. The order is already interfering with plaintiffs’ essential work helping American citizens vote. We won’t let the Trump administration continue to trample on the fundamental right to vote.”
Ironically, the current president used a mail-in ballot in the recent primary.
In a vote-at-home system, envelopes are coded to match each voter and are sent to voters securely through the U.S. Postal Service. Ballots are not forwarded if voters have moved without updating their registration information. Voter lists are compared to updated address databases.
Envelopes containing ballots are returned with signatures that must be verified against the voter registration file. Also, an ID number or last four digits of the voters’ Social Security number must be provided.
In Kendall County, a board made up of people from both parties check and verify these ballots. After the verification process, the ballot is removed from the envelope and the ballot heads to the counting process. These protections ensure secrecy and reduce the possibility of voter fraud.
We should not restrict access to the vote but make it easier instead. Unfortunately, in Texas, voter suppression is alive and well. It takes the form of extreme gerrymandering, over-the-top ID requirements, and some of the most restrictive voter registration rules in the country.
Recently enacted Texas voting laws will further inhibit citizens’ access to the polls. In Kendall County, our election officials and poll workers, who come from both parties, do an outstanding job of conducting our elections. Expanding mail-in/absentee voting would be a great way to improve voter turnout, strengthen our election security and secure our democracy for future generations.
Visit our website at www. kcdems.us or subscribe to our newsletter to learn how you can get involved. Call our office at 830-331-1243 to learn more about our activities and activism.
Kevin Henning is a local Democrat
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