New ballot discovered voters need it to be simpler to vote in Texas

Over 66% of respondents in a new poll from the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs say voting in person is just as safe as going to the grocery store. More than half said they had waited in line for 15 minutes or less.

The survey asked 1,000 registered voters about postal voting, security of the voting location in the COVID-19 crisis and possible electoral reforms.

“A number of bills addressing proposed voting reforms are expected to be tabled in the next term,” said Kirk P. Watson, founding dean of the Hobby School. “This survey offers an insight into which reforms are widely supported by Texans.”

Half of those polled believe that all Texan voters should be able to vote by post, but there has been major disagreement over political party affiliation. Almost 80% of Democrats support allowing any registered voter to vote by mail, while only 17% of Republicans agree.

Currently, Texas is only offering postal ballot papers by mail to voters 65 years of age or older, people with disabilities or illnesses, and voters who will be outside their county on election day and during the early voting period. The Texas Democrats attempted to extend the option to all Texas voters during the pandemic, but were repeatedly blocked by Republicans in court.

Election fraud

60% of respondents are concerned about postal ballot-related voting fraud.

Republicans were almost three times as likely to be concerned about fraud as Democrats – 83% of Republicans were concerned, compared with about 30% of Democrats.

Voter registration

The survey found that online voter registration was supported by almost two-thirds (65.6%) of respondents, and automatic voter registration with driver license renewal was supported by an absolute majority (51.8%). Here, too, there were differences along the party lines.

“Democrats are twice as likely to support online voter registration as Republicans,” said Mark P. Jones, research fellow at the Hobby School and professor of political science at Rice University.

Millennials vs. Baby Boomers

“Millennials and Generation X and Generation Z strongly support four of the five electoral reforms we are introducing, while the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers oppose four of the five reforms,” ​​said Renée Cross, Senior Director at Hobby School.

“A majority of all generations support online voter registration, but even then the level of support is very different: support from younger voters peaked at 74.5% compared to around 59% for older voters,” Cross said.

The poll of likely voters in Texas was conducted October 13-20, and more than 40% of respondents said they had already voted in the 2020 election.

The full report is available here.