Nearly 300,000 Texans in the 2018 Midterms were hindered by Problems at the Polls in 2018, according to a Statistical Analysis released Tuesday by an Advocacy Group.

Because of Voting Machine Malfunctions, Lack of Easy Access to Polling Locations at Texas Universities, and the State’s Application of some Voter Registration Laws, among other Problems, at least 277,000 Voters faced Avoidable Setbacks and Problems, according to the Study conducted by the Texas Civil Rights Project.

The Number of Voters affected by those Issues is Greater than the Margin of Votes in the 2018 U.S. Senate Race between U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic Challenger Beto O’Rourke, the Report says.

The Advocacy Group doesn’t suggest that enough Votes were Lost to Change the Results in the Senate Race, but it cites the Contest as an Example of the Potential Impact of 277,000 Votes.

“Voters encountered hurdles to democracy at every stop of the voting process, from registration to submitting the ballot,” the 24-page Report concludes.

The group is warning that even more voters will be hindered in 2020 unless state and local governments take steps to reform the state’s “antiquated election infrastructure.”

“Real change must come to Texas in order to ensure that all eligible Texans are able to cast a vote that counts,” said Mimi Marziani, President of the Group.
The Texas Civil Rights Project, Founded in 1990, is a Nonprofit Group based in Austin that is focused on Voting Rights, Racial and Economic Justice, and Criminal Justice Reform. In addition to Contributions, it is Funded with Grants and Litigation Fees.

One of the most pronounced Issues was a Lack of Access to Convenient Polling Places, particularly for College Students, the Report states. It estimates that if all 22 Texas Colleges with at least 10,000 Students had a Polling Place on or near Campus during Early Voting and on Election day, 262,000 more Students would have Cast Ballots in 2018. To get that number, the Group used the Enrollment at the 15 Biggest Universities without a Polling Place on Campus, then subtracted the Percentage of International Students, about 5.6% of Students, who cannot Vote. Based on those Enrollment Figures, the Civil Rights Project estimated that 262,000 College Students who are eligible to Vote would have benefited from having an On-Site Polling Location.

Voter Machine Glitches were a concern in the Election. There were numerous Reports of Voters who said they tried to Submit Straight-Ticket Ballots but upon Review found that the Machine had Selected the Wrong Candidate in the U.S. Senate Race. The issue was Reported with Hart eSlate Voting Machines, which are used by 82 Texas Counties. The Civil Rights Project focused on Seven Counties including: Fort Bend, Harris, and Montgomery, where it said as many as 1.9 Million Straight-Ticket Voters may have been affected by the Glitch. Even if the Error went Undetected by a Tiny Fraction of those Voters, as many as 1,885 of them could have had the Wrong Choice in the Senate Race submitted, the Study concluded.

Other Issues identified by the Civil Rights Group included Polling Sites Opening Late, Long Lines at some Locations, Early Voter Registration Deadlines that kept some Voters from participating and the State’s Interpretation of so-called Motor Voter Laws that Prevent some People from Changing their Voter Registration Addresses Online when they Change the Address on their Driver Licenses.

In Harris County alone, the Group said 106 People had Provisional Ballots Rejected because they Mistakenly thought they had Registered the change Online. The Texas Civil Rights Project said if the Rest of the State had a similar Failure Rate, it would mean a total of 753 People Statewide had the same Problem.

Not included in the Report were another 2,000 potential Voters in Texas who had their Registration Applications called into question late last year after they tried to Register to Vote through Vote.org, which uses Digital Photographs of Signatures on its Forms.

The Texas Secretary of State said at the time that those Signatures were Not Valid because Texas requires a Handwritten Signature that is not a Copy or a Photograph of a Signature. Voters who Submitted Applications through Vote.org were given 10 Days to Correct the Signatures, but it is unclear how many did so before Election Day.










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