AUSTIN, Texas — Last week, Texas once again made headlines as we learned that the State of Texas will only be providing very limited numbers of voter registration applications to the public, blaming paper shortages. This shortage stalled requests for voter registration cards to civic engagement organizations, county parties, and volunteer deputy registrars, and left many of these entities woefully under-supplied. Meanwhile, thousands of voters across the state are having their applications for mail ballots rejected every day because of voter suppression bill SB1 and the State and counties unpreparedness to implement it.
This week, the Texas Democratic Party is announcing a program to print half a million voter registration cards and distribute them to communities across the state – through our “Let The People Register” program. The Texas Democrats are raising money into a fund to support the implementation of this program to print and distribute voter registration cards. Our goal is to send out at least 500,000 voter registration cards across the state, placing our first order on February 4th, 2022. The more resources we raise, the more voter registration cards we’ll send across Texas, wherever they’re needed. Voter registration cards from our first order will arrive in counties the first week of March 2022.
Statement from Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa:
“Advocates across the state have been saying it for years: Texas is ground zero for voter suppression – and this year, we’ve got our work cut out for us. The most powerful way to fight voter suppression is to give every eligible citizen the opportunity to use their voice at the ballot box. The Texas Democratic Party is committed to registering several hundreds of thousands of voters in 2022, regardless of who or what stands in our way. So, if our Republican government refuses to, once again, simply do their jobs and help eligible Texans register to vote – we’ll do it for them.”
