Allegations of voter fraud and disenfranchisement have almost become a required component of any election, particular since the lengthy battle over Florida’s votes in 2000. Hopefully, a repeat of election results being contested all the way to the United States Supreme Court will not be needed anytime soon, but attorneys now descend on polling places at the slightest sniff of wrongdoing. To minimize the number of problems on election days, many cities and states have been making efforts to improve the voter registration system and give participants in our electoral process fewer reasons to complain. Harris County, which is home to the great city of Houston, is trying to make the registration paperwork as accessible to its residents as possible.
County Tax Assessor-Collector Leo Vasquez is working with organizations such as the Houston Apartment Association and the Texas Land Title Association to make sure that people receive voter forms amongst all of the other documents that one receives when moving into a new home. Major employers in the area, such as Continental Airlines and the Houston Independent School District, are also starting to include a voter registration form within the stack which already includes a W-4 form and the employee leave policy. Beyond providing one more way in which interested voters can receive the needed paperwork to register, Vasquez also hopes that this effort will spread out the processing of voter forms throughout the year. As it stands now, most new voters wait until the weeks right before an election to remember this task and the resulting chances for error in processing during the rush are high.
At Bertolino LLP, we have attorneys in Austin, Houston and San Antonio who practice in the area of election law. If you believe that you are properly registered to vote in your district but you still were denied the right to participate in an election, please let us know. The election law lawyers in our Austin, Houston, and San Antonio offices can help.
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