Start to adapt way Texans cast ballots

As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads and concern abounds about a possible resurgence in the fall, it’s paramount Texas officials explore ways to expand voting by mail in upcoming elections.

This does not mean Texas should go to a complete vote-by-mail system. Numerous experts have said there is not enough time for such a massive undertaking and not enough money in the federal stimulus package to achieve this. But it’s also hard to square long lines, touch screens and crowded voting centers during and after a pandemic.

Texas needs to do what it can to expand the option of voting by mail in local, state and presidential elections, but also develop protocols for in-person voting that limits the spread of germs.

Expanding vote by mail will be challenging and costly, but it’s not an effort that should be delayed by partisan politics. Concerns over the coronavirus are going to affect voter behavior — and could have a dramatic impact on turnout. There is a genuine public health concern here that could make many Americans hesitate to exercise their right to vote.

Those concerns prompted the filing of a lawsuit in Austin earlier this month by the Texas Democratic Party against Secretary of State Ruth Hughs in an attempt to give all Texas voters the option of voting by mail in the primary runoffs, citing the potential for sickness. The Texas Republican Party is opposed to expanding mail balloting, citing concerns about voter fraud, thereby increasing election uncertainty.

That runoff scheduled for late May was rescheduled to July 14 by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Under current Texas law, to cast a ballot by mail, a voter must be older than 65, have a disability or illness, be incarcerated or plan to be out of the county during the election period.

Only five states — Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington — vote by mail in all elections. But it takes time to do this right. Utah has been transitioning to an all-mail system over eight years.

Registered voters in 28 states can access a mail ballot if they want, and Texas should explore this possibility. At least 21 other states allow some of the smaller turnout elections, such as those for school board, to be conducted by mail. A bill that would have allowed small Texas entities to hold their runoffs by mail was vetoed by Abbott in 2017.

Even if there were political agreement, Texas isn’t remotely positioned to transition to casting all ballots by mail. For example, 18,721 local mail ballots were among the 254,603 votes counted in the March primaries. And in the general election in 2016, about 311,000 Texans voted by mail, a fraction of all voters.

Moving to an all-mail election in the matter of months would be a logistical nightmare for county elections offices. Elections administrators across Texas have said they can’t pull off such a dramatic shift.

There is also consensus among elections experts that the success of mail elections depends on having strong controls to ensure no voter is disenfranchised and the integrity of the election is maintained through a strictly enforced voter signature verification system to prevent fraud. Instances of voter fraud are rare. But it still takes time and resources to do this right.

At the national level, the multibillion-dollar federal stimulus package includes funding to help states address election issues due to the pandemic, but experts have said what Congress has considered is inadequate. The Brennan Center has estimated it would cost $1.4 billion to deliver vote-by-mail to every voter. That’s reality, but it does not require complacency.

Texas officials should expand the window for early voting, launch apps that allow voters to track wait times at polls, and develop best practices to sanitize voting centers and ensure proper social distancing in lines. And, of course, vote by mail should be expanded as much as possible.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has placed those 60 or older in the high-risk pool. At the least, Abbott could expand vote by mail to this age group.

Looking beyond the runoff and fall election, expanding vote by mail has to be a priority for the Legislature next session.