New voter ID laws are fucking things up. Yay, RepubliCONS.
In Harris County, home to Houston and 4.7 million people, 3,475 ballots representing about 35% of those received by Tuesday could not be accepted because voters did not fill in the correct number. In past years, the overall rejection rate was between 5% and 10%.
The vast majority of ballots appeared to have been cast by registered voters who simply made an honest mistake, officials said.
"These layers don't provide more security, but they are providing more rejection," said Isabel Longoria, the top election official in Harris, the state's most populous county. "Election administrators are in this very bizarre situation where it's our job to help voters vote ... and we're having to reject ballots at a rate we've never seen before."
The number of rejected votes is certain to rise, given that the majority of mail-in ballots have not yet arrived at clerks' offices ahead of the March 1 primary.
Officials in Dallas County, the state's second-most populous with 2.6 million residents, said they were sending back 26% of mail-in ballots, much higher than in previous elections.
In Harris County, home to Houston and 4.7 million people, 3,475 ballots representing about 35% of those received by Tuesday could not be accepted because voters did not fill in the correct number. In past years, the overall rejection rate was between 5% and 10%.
The vast majority of ballots appeared to have been cast by registered voters who simply made an honest mistake, officials said.
"These layers don't provide more security, but they are providing more rejection," said Isabel Longoria, the top election official in Harris, the state's most populous county. "Election administrators are in this very bizarre situation where it's our job to help voters vote ... and we're having to reject ballots at a rate we've never seen before."
The number of rejected votes is certain to rise, given that the majority of mail-in ballots have not yet arrived at clerks' offices ahead of the March 1 primary.
Officials in Dallas County, the state's second-most populous with 2.6 million residents, said they were sending back 26% of mail-in ballots, much higher than in previous elections.