Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4, 2021

CONTACT: Jennifer Harris, jharris@jwhcommunications.com or press@secure-democracy.org

Secure Democracy Lauds Texas House Elections Committee Passage of Measures to Improve Election Integrity, Voter Access

While 66 bills restricting voting remain a concern, bipartisan approval of S.B. 1018, H.B. 160 and H.B. 2993 would provide cure process and additional forms of voter identification to improve Texas elections

AUSTIN, Texas — While Texas’s omnibus election bills H.B. 6 and S.B. 7 and 27 additional standalone bills would layer on restrictions to Texas elections and voters, the Texas House Elections Committee today approved three positive reforms, advancing S.B. 1018, establishing a cure process, H.B. 160, allowing college-issued identification cards to be used as voter identification, and H.B. 2993, allowing Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWIC) to be used as voter identification.

“We know there’s broad-based support among Texas voters across the political spectrum for common sense reforms that improve voter access and ensure the integrity of our elections,” said Sarah Walker, executive director of Secure Democracy. 

“S.B. 1018, H.B. 160, and H.B. 2993 are important steps forward to modernize Texas election laws, providing for a uniform ballot cure process and expanding voter identification to include college-issued identification cards and transportation worker identification credentials. We applaud leaders for working across the aisle to advance this legislation and strengthen election laws for all Texans. We hope state leaders will continue to focus on positive reforms, not additional restrictions, in the closing weeks of the legislative session,” Walker added.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND

Texas is a national outlier in many areas of election law: It is one of only nine states where citizens can’t register to vote online; one of only seven states that does not accept student IDs issued by accredited colleges and universities as photo identification for voting; and one of only 12 states that sets the earliest voter registration deadline allowed by federal law.

Secure Democracy recently highlighted some of the more concerning legislation among the 66 bills filed this session that would restrict voter access. 

S.B. 1018, H.B. 160, and H.B. 2993 stand in stark contrast to the restrictive measures under consideration at the Texas Capitol. These three bills would help improve Texas elections:

S.B. 1018 would ensure voters have the opportunity to correct issues in submitted absentee ballots, commonly called a ‘ballot cure’ process." Unlike many states, Texas does not have a cure process that requires election officials to notify voters about honest, correctable issues with their mail ballots prior to rejecting them. Texas is currently in litigation on this issue, and its lawmakers have an opportunity to craft a process legislatively rather than requiring a judge to do so, as has happened recently in North Carolina and North Dakota. 

H.B. 160 would expand the acceptable forms of voter identification to include identification cards issued by Texas institutions of higher education. 

H.B. 2993 would expand the acceptable forms of voter identification to include a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) card issued by the Transportation Security Administration.

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About Secure Democracy

Secure Democracy is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works to improve election integrity across the United States. We educate policymakers and the public about what it takes to safeguard our voting systems. We collaborate with state leaders, election administrators, election integrity experts, and allies to ensure that all eligible citizens have the freedom to vote how they choose.