AUSTIN, Texas — Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir said earlier this week that her office is rejecting an unusually high share of applications for mail-in ballots because they do not meet standards set under the state's new elections law.
On Friday, the League of Women Voters of Texas sent a letter to Texas Secretary of State John Scott, threatening to sue if the nonpartisan civic organization is not provided with additional voter registration forms ahead of the March 1 primary.
The letter alleges that the state has decided to "sharply limit" the number of voter registration forms distributed to the group and others, a violation of the National Voter Registration Act.
"Voter registration organizations play a critical role in registering individuals to vote in Texas — particularly because Texas is one of only eleven states that do not provide their residents the ability to register to vote online," reads the letter, signed by Grace Chimene, president of the League of Women Voters of Texas, and Danielle Lang, senior director of voting rights at the Campaign Legal Center. "As such, any cap on the number of voter registration forms provided to voter registration organizations is concerning and impedes an organization's ability to conduct its work."
The League of Women Voters of Texas says it is prepared to sue the state if the nonpartisan organization is not provided with larger numbers of voter registration forms ahead of the March 1 primary.
Sam Taylor, spokesman for the Texas secretary of state, told KUT on Tuesday that the agency would have fewer voter registration forms to distribute to voting groups ahead of elections this year because supply chain issues have limited the availability of paper and driven up costs.
The National Voter Registration Act requires states to make voter registration forms available for distribution through governmental and private entities, specifically groups that run organized voter registration programs. In their letter, Chimene and Lang said the state is imposing an "artificial cap" instead of fulfilling the needs of organizations on the ground.
The deadline to register to vote for the March 1 primaries is Jan. 31.
"Indeed, the Houston chapter of LWV-TX alone has registered approximately 30,000 new citizens at naturalization ceremonies per year in the past," the letter reads. "Your office's newly imposed cap on access to voter registration forms is directly impeding this vital work."
Taylor said Friday the state agreed to provide an additional 7,000 forms to the League's Houston chapter on Thursday and officials in the secretary of state's office are continuing to fulfill requests from other groups to the best of their ability.
"We are treating all requestors the same, and are aiming to provide 75% of all bulk requests for voter registration forms, including to all of the various LWV chapters across Texas," he said.
Lang and Chimene said in the letter that they are prepared to sue the state if "the violation is not resolved within 20 days of this notice." The National Voter Registration Act requires individuals or organizations to provide written notice of a violation before bringing legal action.
“Without the necessary voter registration forms, a large portion of the Texas population will be illegally blocked from making their voices heard in the upcoming state primary in March," Celina Stewart, chief counsel and senior director of advocacy and litigation for the League of Women Voters of the United States, said in a statement.
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