Latest Contributions

• Texas officials expect it to take months for coronavirus vaccine to be available to anyone who wants it

  by Karen Brooks Harper Updated: Dec. 17, 2020

  Gov. Greg Abbott said he has not yet gotten the vaccine but will “at the appropriate time." Full Story 

• As COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Texas' hard-hit border areas, experts warn vaccinated people could still spread virus

  by Karen Brooks Harper and Julián Aguilar Dec. 15, 2020

  Heavily Hispanic border regions have seen some of the highest death tolls from the virus. Health experts say people shouldn't let their guard down as vaccinations begin. Full Story 

• Vaccinations are underway for Texas’ front-line health care workers: “I can’t believe this is happening”

  by Aria Jones and Karen Brooks Harper Updated: Dec. 14, 2020

  Four Texas sites received a total of 19,500 doses of the vaccine on Monday, the first phase of a rollout that will put a quarter-million doses into 110 Texas facilities this week — with more on the way next week. Full Story 

• COVID-19 vaccine doses are arriving in Texas, giving weary health care workers hope after months of peril

  by Karen Brooks Harper, Aria Jones, Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Sami Sparber Dec. 14, 2020

  From the Rio Grande Valley to the Texas Panhandle and from the Gulf Coast to West Texas, some 110 medical facilities are slated to receive the first allocation of 1.4 million doses earmarked for Texas. Full Story 

• Crystal Mason, jailed for illegal voting after casting provisional ballot, seeks to have conviction overturned

  by Karen Brooks Harper Dec. 1, 2020

  The request for review by the state’s highest criminal court was filed by Mason’s attorneys as well as the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the national ACLU and the Texas Civil Rights Project. Full Story 

• GOP lawmakers heading into the legislative session take aim at voter fraud, despite no evidence of widespread problem

  by Karen Brooks Harper Dec. 1, 2020

  Nearly a dozen pieces of legislation, all of them filed by Republicans, target mail-in balloting, illegal voting and misbehaving elections officials — inspired by events and talking points from the previous election cycle. Full Story 

• Texas Republicans have blocked voter access legislation for years. The pandemic may change that.

  by Karen Brooks Harper Nov. 27, 2020

  More than 60 election-related bills have been filed in the House and Senate in the three weeks since the election. About half of them are aimed at increasing voter access, which lawmakers said became a more urgent issue during the pandemic. Full Story 

• Republicans kept their grip on Texas government in 2020. In 2021, they'll be able to tighten it.

  by Karen Brooks Harper Updated: Dec. 1, 2020

  Because Republicans in the state House and Senate held onto their 20-year majority, they are positioned to further entrench their power until the next redistricting rolls around in 2031. Full Story 

• Despite record turnout, some Texas voters were still shut out

  by Karen Brooks Harper Nov. 6, 2020

  Texas remains a difficult state in which to vote, and there are bountiful stories of voters who tried to cast ballots and couldn't. But neither Democrats nor Republicans are questioning the integrity of the results. Full Story 

• Texas voters turn out under sunny skies as pandemic and political divisions loom large over Election Day

  by Karen Brooks Harper Updated: Nov. 3, 2020

  Clear skies across Texas ushered voters to the polls for a historic Election Day on Tuesday, even as a political storm hovers at the close of an anxious, divisive presidential election unlike any other. Full Story 

• Miles to go before they vote: Without absentee ballots, displaced Texans cross the country to vote at home

  by Karen Brooks Harper Oct. 30, 2020

  Worried because their absentee ballots never arrived, two American University students rented a Volkswagen Golf and drove 30 hours across half a dozen states to cast their votes in Texas this week. Full Story 

• Worried your mail-in ballot still hasn't arrived? Here's how to be sure your vote counts

  by Karen Brooks Harper Oct. 29, 2020

  If you're concerned that you haven't received your mail-in ballot, there are ways to be counted by showing up in person. Officials say ballots are still being sent out with less than a week before Election Day. Full Story 

• Texas' ability to run accessible, efficient elections is being tested this year. Will Bexar County flunk?

  by Karen Brooks Harper Oct. 27, 2020

  While other large urban counties have aggressively pushed to expand voting options amid the pandemic, Bexar County is pursuing a more modest approach. Some critics fear the result will be an Election Day logjam disenfranchising voters of color in San Antonio. Full Story 

• Texas can reject mail-in ballots over mismatched signatures without giving voters a chance to appeal, court rules

  by Karen Brooks Harper Oct. 19, 2020

  A federal judge had ordered the state to give voters a chance to resolve signature questions in time for their ballots to be counted. Now that won't happen unless counties do it voluntarily. Full Story 

• Harris County tried to make voting easier during the pandemic. Texas Republicans fought every step of the way.

  by Karen Brooks Harper and Emma Platoff Updated: Oct. 15, 2020

  In a bitterly contested election overlaid with the fears and risks of an uncontrolled pandemic, Harris County has become a case study in raw politics and partisan efforts to manipulate voter turnout. Full Story 

• Coronavirus restrictions and remote learning may hamper college student voter turnout

  by Karen Brooks Harper Sept. 25, 2020

  Campaigns, political organizations and students at schools across Texas say they’re worried and frustrated that pandemic health restrictions are stymying efforts to register and turn out students to vote. Full Story 

• Balancing higher health risks and spotty internet, reopening college in the Rio Grande Valley is a challenge

  by Karen Brooks Harper Updated: Sept. 16, 2020

  At UT-Rio Grande Valley, administrators spent a tense summer preparing for the fall semester while local coronavirus rates spiked, the area spiraled into further economic depression and debate raged across the nation about how to safely send college students back to school. Full Story 

• Texas universities blame off-campus parties for rising COVID-19 cases, but few are disciplining students

  by Karen Brooks Harper Sept. 8, 2020

  Schools, desperate to keep their doors open but worried about health risks to their students, are being put in the uncomfortable position of having to govern young adult behavior that is mostly happening off university property. Full Story