TYLER, Texas — The primary election is a just over a month away and election offices across East Texas are adjusting to the rules around mail-in ballots as people register to vote.
The Smith County Elections Office received 110 mail-in ballot applications and 20 were rejected due to missing information or wrong application.
The State of Texas created a new mail-in ballot application in the last legislative session. On the right-hand side of the application, there is a now a section requesting personal identification.
“There is now a requirement for voters who choose to vote by mail is to provide their personal identification number whether it’s their driver’s license, the last four of their social ID,” said Michelle Allcon, elections administrator for Smith County.
If that portion is not filled out, your application will be rejected, but not denied. Officials are working to ensure voters have the right application in hand.
“We’ve informed the voter, we sent them the right application, all they have to do is just re-submit the new application,” said Allcon.
The voter making sure every vote counts, but this also presents a new set of challenges.
"My office is no longer allowed to send an application to anybody except the person who's requesting it,” said Michelle. “If a wife calls and requests two applications, one for herself and one for her husband, we have to actually talk to her husband before we can send an application to him, and that's where we're running into more trouble.”
If a voter happens to be disabled or elderly, Allcon says the caregiver should print out the application and drop it off at their local election office.
“The workaround for that is the voter can still or, or the voters assistant, or caregiver, or whoever can still print those applications off,” said Allcon.
Mail-in ballots can only be hand-delivered at your county's election office.
On election day, voters are responsible for their own mail-ballot. If voters request to submit a new application, the voters’ office has until February 18 to receive it.
To learn more about the requirements on mail-in-ballot applications click here.