AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Senate approved a “use it or lose it” voter bill Monday that could purge voters from registration rolls who skip two federal elections.
The legislation mirrors a controversial Ohio law that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018. That law, and bills like it, have been criticized for having a disproportionate effect on low-income communities and people of color.
Under the Texas bill, any voter who skips two federal elections in a row, as well as any local or state elections between them, must confirm they still live at the same address. County election officials would send address confirmation notices shortly after a federal election to any voter who did not cast a ballot in the previous 25 months. If a voter does not respond, they would be placed on a “suspense list.”
“This gives the registrar another tool to be able to clean up those voter rolls, which I will just say, gives a lack of confidence,” the bill’s author, Brenham Republican Sen. Lois Kolkhorst said during a committee hearing last month.
Proposals such as Kolkhorst’s have been called racist, and several have concerns that it might disenfranchise people experiencing homelessness because such voters have more difficulties accessing mail. In Georgia, a similar law led to accusations of voter suppression in 2018.
Kolkhorst said her bill came about after she was contacted by some residents of Fort Bend County and learned the county has more registered voters than eligible voters. It was one of 31 counties identified in the 2020 Judicial Watch study, including Rockwall County, found to have voter registration rates exceeding 100%.
Requiring voters to confirm their address after skipping two federal elections is a way of determining if a voter has moved, she said. A lack of response to the county election office is taken as proof that a voter no longer lives at the address, according to the bill.
Critics say the law would penalize less active voters, and that nothing in state or federal law requires a voter to participate in elections in order to maintain their ability to vote.
However, in upholding the Ohio law, the Supreme Court ruled that the law would not take a person’s right to vote away for failing to vote, but because the person did not return a mailed address confirmation.
Kolkhorst’s bill is among a raft of controversial election bills filed this legislative session.
They include efforts advancing through the Senate and House that would increase the criminal penalty for voter fraud, a bill that would create a state-run law enforcement squad to police elections and a proposal to end the popular practice of county-wide voting locations on Election Day.
Kolkhorst’s proposal passed 19-12 along party lines Monday. It now heads to the House for consideration.
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