More Paper Trail, Not Less Access

Election-integrity legislation gets read one of two ways: as a solution to a real problem, or as a quiet restriction dressed up as one. These three bills land almost entirely in the first category, adding documentation and accountability to specific, named failure points without narrowing who gets to vote.

Texas already had a formula for how many ballots each precinct needs. The formula wasn’t the problem, enforcement was. HB1661 makes it a Class A misdemeanor for an election official to intentionally shortchange a precinct on ballots or ignore a legitimate restock request, and upgrades an existing ballot-accounting offense from a misdemeanor to a real felony. Every new offense requires proof of intentional misconduct, not honest logistical shortfall, so an official who runs short during an unexpected turnout surge isn’t the target here.

Curbside and entrance voting for disabled Texans stays completely intact, the bill even extends it to a person escorting an accommodation voter. What’s new: a sworn statement before ballot delivery, and a disclosure requirement for anyone transporting seven or more accommodation voters in one election, a documented pattern that’s drawn real scrutiny in past fraud investigations nationally. The accommodation didn’t shrink. The documentation around high-volume assistance grew.

When a Texan gets a driver’s license in another state, that’s a real signal they may have moved. SB1470 lets DPS share that data with the Secretary of State to flag voters for further review under Texas’s existing list-maintenance process. It doesn’t automatically remove anyone. The actual notice-and-review procedure still has to get written through future rulemaking, and that’s the piece that needs to confirm flagged voters get real notice before anything happens to their registration.

HB1661 raises the cost of misconduct for the people who administer elections, not the people who show up to vote in them. HB521 and SB1470 add a real documentation trail to two very different processes, accommodation voting and address-change list maintenance, without narrowing who’s eligible to use either one.

This is our read of the bills. We encourage you to read them yourself and reach your own conclusions.