Austin (WBAP/KLIF News) – With so many people voting early, the possibility of someone’s vote not getting counted increases. So says a group of civil rights organizations, which collectively is known as the Texas Election Protection Coalition. Mimi Marziani of the Texas Civil Rights Project says on one hand, high turnout is a good thing.
“We have seen an unprecedented spike in voter turnout in Texas already,” said Marziani. “In fact, the first and third days of early voting have set records across the state, and happily, there are no signs of voting slowing down.”
But she says with that spike come higher chances people’s votes may not count, due to incorrect information about ID at the polls, voter intimidation, and long lines.
She says one problem they’ve encountered already has to do with new citizens from Mexico, for whom it’s common to go by their mother’s surname. The problem arises when they use their father’s name, as is done in the US, on legal forms such as driver licenses
“We have heard some reports of some election officials giving people a hard time, in worst case scenarios turning people away from the polls, when their name on the voter registration rolls doesn’t exactly match the name on their ID,” said Marziani.
She said state law requires names to be similar, but not exact.
She referred to another case in North Texas, in which an armed “patrol person” talked to people standing in line to cast their early ballot. “This is something, of course, that many voters perceive to be intimidating,” said Marziani.
The group says they want the Secretary of State’s office to investigate reports of voter intimidation across the state. They have a hotline to report cases of voter intimidation, misinformation and other irregularities; that number is (866) OUR-VOTE.
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