Kenneth Thompson, 95, says he is worried about casting his ballot in Texas' upcoming elections.
The newstate law SB1requires voters requesting mail-in ballots toinclude an identification number— a driver’s license, state-issued ID or a portion of a Social Security Number — that matches the number that person used to register to vote.
Otherwise, the application is rejected.
“He registered to vote in the 1940s and they didn’t require that,” Thompson’s daughter, Delinda Holland, told KPRC.
“I can get out and move around and go to a regular polling place, but these people, lots of people just can’t,” Thompson said.
Holland said she had to re-register her father ahead of the Jan. 31 deadline to make sure he’s eligible to vote in the March 1 primary.
“We know it’s a new law, we’re happy to correct it,” Holland said. “He’s a law-abiding citizen. He doesn’t want to miss voting, and yet, there’s no mechanism to add that driver’s license to your record.”
A voter casts their ballot in a Democratic presidential primary election at the Hamilton High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on April 7, 2021.KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty
Texas Gov. Greg Abbottsigned SB1 into lawin September 2021 after some Democratic lawmakersfled the stateto delay the passage of a previous voting rights bill over the summer. SB1 includes a number ofchanges to electionsin Texas in addition to the mail-in ballot application process.
“There’s gonna be a lot of people not gonna vote,” Thompson argued of the new rules. “If I hadn’t have called in about mine, people wouldn’t have known.”
Thompson, who served in Europe with the U.S. Army during WWII, said he hasn’t missed an election since he began voting in his early 20s and considers casting a ballot his duty. “I’ve been voting many, many years,” he said.
In Travis County, which includes Austin, elections officials said 27 percent of mail-in ballot applications for the primary had been rejected due to SB1.
“Voters are going to be playing the same guessing game, they don’t remember. So how do we advise them? So far, we have not received instructions from the Secretary of State’s Office to tell voters how to go,” County ClerkDana DeBeauvoir saidin a press conference earlier this month.
source: people.com
