Years ago, I asked for an absentee ballot because I would be out of the country for the election, including all but the first day of early voting, the same day I was leaving. The requirement was to give the address where I would be staying, and they would send the ballot there. I would then mail it back from that same location. The problem, of course, was that I was staying only a couple of nights in one location before moving on to the next. I would never have received the ballot, so I opted to be at my closest early voting site at 6:30 to get in line and vote before I had to rush to the airport. A simpler solution would have been for me to vote the ballot while still at home and mail it in. While mine was a vacation, people who travel for business also run into roadblocks like this because any one trip might be to multiple destinations.
All Texas Democrats also have the frustration of voting in a US House district where their votes have absolutely no influence on who wins because our districts are gerrymandered to elect Republicans only. Roger Williams has had a stranglehold on my district because it includes just a slice of Austin and then lots of red, rural areas. I would like to see gerrymandering outlawed and redistricting required by nonpartisan means.
The other point to make about Texas is that the state has closed 720 polling sites since 2012,
mostly in minority areas with increasing population while white areas with decreasing population were not touched. Early voting helps, but if remaining sites are not on a bus line, then people have a difficult time getting to the polls. Voter suppression is not the only reason for lower turnout among minorities here, but it’s a factor, especially among older voters.
We really need the Senate to pass the new voting rights bill.
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