Blog

March 14, 2022

What Happened on March 1? What’s Next?

How Many Tried and Failed?

In the March 1 election, around 27,000 Texans had trouble voting by mail. Newspersons said they were “rejected,” but around 9,000 of them were eventually able to get their ballots to count. That leaves about 18,000 Texans who tried to vote by mail but were denied that right. The overwhelming reason was the voter suppression laws passed by Republicans.

How Many Didn’t Even Try?

The number of Texans who simply did not try to vote by mail, or who did not try to vote at all, because of voter suppression may never be known. Surely there were very very many!

The Good News

The good news is that eligible voters can still apply to vote by mail in the May 7 constitutional and local elections, in the May 24 primary runoff elections, and in the all-important November elections. Our message is: DO NOT give up. DO NOT be dismayed. DO NOT allow Republican voter suppressors to take away your rights.

The “over 65” voters and other eligibles do a great service to democracy by voting by mail. Lines may be long and discouraging at the polls, but not because of us. We “get out of line for democracy” by voting ahead of time by mail.

Join us and Fight

These are some of the concepts that were discussed by activists of the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans at our biweekly meeting on March 14. We also decided on a series of public actions to inform and encourage Texans to defend their rights by voting. Join us by contacting genelantz@texasretiredamericans.org.