Under a collaborative effort between multiple Harris County departments, commissioners approved 4-1 to initiate different voter registration pilot programs aimed at increasing total voter turnout numbers at elections, including among marginalized and working-class communities. Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey dissented at the Aug. 6 court meeting.
Projects mentioned during the meeting included:
- Developing an unregistered voters map
- Hiring a vendor to assist with voter outreach efforts
- Implementing a text-to-register program
- Initiating a voter registration pilot program
Harris County staff were tasked to report back at the Aug. 27 meeting of Harris County commissioners with updates on the pilot program statuses.
By the numbers
Harris County has about 20 ZIP codes where less than 80% of their eligible population is registered to vote, according to a March report by Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research. The report states how out of an estimated 2.78 million eligible citizen population, more than 177,000 may not be registered to vote—a number that represents enough votes to impact any local or national election.
What they’re saying
Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis expressed concerns with low voter turnout and gaps in voter registration numbers within Harris County and the state.
“Texas is one of a handful of states that does not have online registration. We have the most restrictive laws in place in Texas to keep people from finding it easier to register to vote,” Ellis said.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones said the voter turnout numbers for Harris County elections were alarming.
“This is sobering. When you look since November, turnout for the last six elections has ranged from 2% to 14%,” Briones said.
State Rep. Gene Wu told commissioners he was advocating for his district, which consists of 85% of renters and working-class families. He also spoke about how families may not have printers in their homes to follow the registration protocol in Texas, which requires voters to print out a voter registration form, sign it and mail to the county's voter registrar.
"Sometimes they don't have the right information. They don't have their voter registration updated the right way. All those things prevent them from expressing their rights as an American. Anything we can do to make their lives just a little bit easier, let them be a little bit more American and express their rights is something that we should do, because it reinforces our democracy and reinforces us as a community and as a society," Wu said.
The Texas Secretary of State's website provides other voter registration application methods, including requesting a postage-paid application that can be mailed to households. Applications for Harris County residents who speak Chinese or Vietnamese are also available online.
On the other hand
Election responsibilities shifted in Harris County when the Texas House passed Senate Bill 1750 last May, which effectively eliminated Harris County’s election administrator system—a nonpartisan position appointed by local elected officials. With the passing of SB 1750, election responsibilities were directed to the Harris County tax assessor-collector and the Harris County clerk.
Ramsey said the voter initiative was a way for the county to reinvent a revamped election administrator.
“I think this is a last-minute attempt to do some voter outreach, and voter outreach doesn’t have a great history in terms of it being a pure system,” Ramsey said.
