After mail ballots rejected during primary, voter education outreach now 'way more robust'
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Julie Philp and her sister Mary Crabb plan to cast their ballots by mail for this year's midterm election next month.
Philp said, "I'm ready to vote."
But when they tried to do the same thing during the March primary, it became impossible.
The sisters shared their frustrations with CBS 11 last spring.
Crabb said, "I want everybody to have their vote, but I think this is getting real close to harassment."
Now, months later, Crabb said, "Sometimes these things are difficult to understand. They don't make it easy."
Philp agreed. "The wording and the way it was presented, it made it terrifically difficult. I'm an educated person. I should have been able to do it. I had to send mine back twice. She had to send it back three times."
Because of that, they couldn't vote.
The sisters' mail-in ballots were among the nearly 25,000 rejected statewide during the March primary in Texas.
That amounted to a more than 12% rejection rate.
The results came after people didn't comply with a controversial new state law, passed last year, that requires more proof of identification.
To help educate voters about changes to the mail in ballots, the Texas Secretary of State's Office has hit the road, traveling across the state, including a recent stop at the Dallas Arboretum.
Sam Taylor, assistant Secretary of State for communications said, "in the past, we have done a grassroots effort, but I think it's way more robust this year and a lot more focused on senior citizens because that's the population that tends to vote by mail in Texas, 65 and older, and disabled."
Taylor said their office wants to head off similar problems during the general election.
Since the March primary, the state has made changes to the mail-ballot envelope.
In addition to placing a red box surrounding the space for your signature, the state has now added a red box around the space to write your ID verification.
Either the last four digits of your social security number or your driver's license number is required, but the state recommends you write both numbers to match what you previously submitted.
Many counties have also inserted instructions for voters.
If you fill out the mail ballot incorrectly, state law requires your county elections administrator's office to contact you and give you a chance to correct it.
Taylor said, "Because we're getting this information out now and because we're traveling around the state, trying to get this information in the hands of voters who really need it, hopefully we'll avoid having issues that we saw back in the primary with mail ballot rejections."
The state is also getting the word out by driving a truck outside the gates of the State Fair of Texas.
Jen Gomez, of GDC Marketing Ideation, has traveled across the state on behalf of the Secretary of State's office to meet with voters to answer questions.
At various events across the state, she plays games with residents to make sure they know which seven forms of ID are allowed at polling locations.
Gomez said, "People are very happy that we're out to make sure that people know what they need to do to make voting easier."
Among those who came to the state's booth, Shirley Rhodes of Dallas.
She said she learned she's now eligible to vote by mail this year. "It's a process, but I think I'd rather go in and cast my vote, kind of mingle with everyone else who's there."
But Philp and Crabb do want to vote by mail.
They don't have a computer, so they can't access information online.
Philp and Crabb say they wish they knew about programs like the one at the Dallas Arboretum to educate voters like them.
"We're getting plenty of fliers of who are you going to vote for, getting plenty of those," Philip said. "It'd be nice to get a flyer that said, seniors or disabled person needs to vote by mail, these places are available to go out and find more information. I've not had any of this information until I talked to you today."