Texas lawmakers consider barring counties from mailing unsolicited voter registration forms
Before the 2024 election, two Texas counties mailed out voter registration forms to hundreds of thousands of residents, unsolicited. Only a small share were returned, but the move sparked a backlash from some Republican lawmakers who said the mailings could make it easier for ineligible people to register and cast ballots.
Now, bills moving through the Texas Legislature would bar counties from sending out voter registration forms to people who didn’t request them. It would also bar the state from using public money to support such mailings by other groups.
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who sponsored Senate Bill 511, said it would put voter-registration applications under the same restrictions that are already in place for mail-ballot applications. A 2021 Texas law — which faces challenges in federal court — barred election officials from sending out unsolicited mail-ballot applications. State Rep. Tom Oliverson, a Houston-area Republican, filed a bill identical to SB 511 in the House. Both bills have been advanced and could soon reach the floors of their respective chambers.
“The government shouldn't be putting their thumb on the scale by doing this without a solicitation from the voter,” Bettencourt said, adding that the effort is a “horrible waste of taxpayer money.”
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/25/texas-voter-registration-legislature-unsolicited/
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