Texas Rejects Record Numbers of Ballot Requests After New Law

Controversy swirls around impact of voting changes pushed by Lone Star GOP after Trump’s 2020 defeat

Greg Abbott speaks during a Get Out The Vote campaign event in Beaumont, Texas, on Feb. 17.Photographer: Mark Felix/Bloomberg
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Texas counties are rejecting record numbers of mail-in ballot applications just days after the start of early voting as post-2020 changes to voting laws reshape the conduct of elections in the second-largest U.S. state.

Harris County, home to Houston and a population bigger than half the states in the union, has rejected more than a third of mail-in ballots sent in thus far for the March 1 primary. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of requests for mail-in ballots also have foundered because of stricter requirements, the county said. In Cameron County along the border with Mexico, the application rejection rate has soared tenfold since the last mid-term elections in 2018.