Texas lawmakers consider barring counties from mailing unsolicited voter registration forms

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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.”

Voting rights groups said the bills could also make it harder to get registration forms in other ways.

In all, three large Texas counties, all Democratic strongholds, moved last year to mail out voter registration applications to residents who were eligible but not yet registered, ahead of the presidential election. In Harris County, the effort quickly stalled following criticism from Bettencourt. Travis and Bexar moved forward, and ran into challenges from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sued to stop the effort. In Bexar County, Paxton’s lawsuit was dismissed. In Travis County, Democratic officials sued Paxton and the state over the attempt, and that case is still moving through the courts.

Bexar County spent $261,000 on the mailing and got back about 15,000 registrations out of them, or 11% of the 136,349 voter registration forms that were mailed out, according to county officials.

That’s well short of the initial goal of 75,000 that county officials discussed. But Bexar County Commissioner Justin Rodriguez, who championed the program, said he would support such an effort again. He said the cost isn’t a waste of taxpayer dollars but instead “an investment in democracy and community outreach.”

“Of those 15,000 newly registered, I think almost 85% of those actually participated. And so to me, it was successful in that regard,” Rodriguez told Votebeat. “You got more people engaged in the process. And that was the goal from the outset.”

Travis County officials declined to comment citing pending litigation.

Bettencourt said the bill does not prevent deputy volunteer voter registrars and candidates from distributing voter registration applications. But some voting rights advocates say language in the bill that says state officials “may not distribute a form on which a person may apply for registration to a person who didn't request it” is too broad. They say it could have implications for election officials who, for instance, choose to display voter registration application forms on the counter of their elections offices.

“If you are in a voter registration office, you have to say a set of magic words in order to get a voter registration application. You have to specifically request it,” said Emily Eby French, policy director for Common Cause Texas.

If either bill clears both the House and Senate, the proposal will head to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.

Natalia Contreras covers election administration and voting access for Votebeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune. She is based in Corpus Christi. Contact Natalia at ncontreras@votebeat.org.

Disclosure: Common Cause has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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