Originally published on Inside Policy & Politics on Chron.com on July 29, 2021.

Written by Karla Rodriguez

Karla is an inaugural Harris Fellow and is working in the office of Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria.

The topic of voting rights and voter accessibility is a hot topic issue in Texas. Harris County grabbed statewide attention during the 2020 presidential elections due to its innovative methods such as drive-thru voting and 24-hour voting polls to increase voter turnout. Harris County exerted tremendous efforts to ensure a safe and efficient voting process in the middle of the pandemic. Despite receiving a backlash and lawsuits, Harris County increased its early voting turnout by 45.12% and its Election Day turnout by 7.19% compared to the 2016 presidential elections as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Increase of voter participation between the 2016 and 2020 general elections
Source: Texas Secretary of State[1]

In July of 2020, the Harris County Commissioners Court created the position of Harris County Elections Administrator. Previously, election administration was split between the offices of the county tax assessor-collector and the county clerk in Harris County, handling voter registration and election administration, respectively. With the creation of a dedicated election administrator, Harris County joined all other larger counties in Texas with such a position with the exception of Travis County. The duties of the Election Administrator’s Office include registering voters, establishing polling locations, counting ballots, and reporting results. Isabel Longoria was appointed as the first elections administrator for Harris County.

During the 87^th legislative session in 2021, rigorous legislative drafts dedicated to stricter voting laws were written due to claims of voter fraud that swept across the nation after the 2020 presidential election. Texas Senate Bill 7 (SB 7) included provisions to ban drive-thru voting, limit polling hours, tighten stricter rules for vote by mail, and curtail local voting options.[2] SB 7 would have affected Harris County significantly since it was one of the only counties in Texas to use voting initiatives such as extending polling hours up to 24 hours and drive-thru voting. At the end of the 87^th session, SB 7 was killed due to Democratic legislators leaving the Capitol and subsequently breaking the quorum. Afterward, Governor Greg Abbott stated that he would call a special session on July 8 to make sure a bill to combat voter fraud would arrive at his desk.

What does this mean for Harris County?

As for now, the Elections Administrator’s Office still has protocols on how to run drive-thru voting and has the liberty of extending polling. It is actively creating trust within the community through expanded outreach efforts. According to the US Census 2019 American Community Survey 5 year estimates Harris County has a citizen voting age population of 2,705,675. This means during the 2020 election, that there were just under 275k unregistered voters. How can an office convince this high number of unregistered voters to register and trust this government entity,? One of the solutions is through voter education events focusing on how the voting process works and information about the office. Many disfranchised communities don’t have access to these types of resources, making them feel misrepresented and unheard.

The best way to increase voter registration in Harris County is to recruit volunteer voter deputy registrars (VDVRs) and train them on how to listen and educate the community regarding voter registration.  With the involvement of the Elections Administrator’s Office ,  VDVRs will be accountable for nonpartisan voter outreach, education and registration. As Isabel Longoria stated in an interview, “Every vote should count right down to the very last one, and I want to set a precedent from the very beginning. Your vote doesn’t just matter because it could sway an election; your vote matters because voting matters. Period.”[3]

Getting Involved

As Texas’ first special legislative session in 2021 is starting with yet another round of Democratic legislators breaking the necessary quorum, we don’t know how the new voting bill will play out. Whether the bill is implemented or not, the Elections Administrator’s Office will continue creating voting accessibility and being a vital government resource for Harris County residents. How can you help? A great way to get involved is by becoming a VDVR and encouraging friends and family to register to vote, and if they are registered, urge them to become VDVRs. With more feet on the ground, Harris County can become the county with the highest percentage of registered voters in Texas. To learn more about the Elections Administrator’s Office visit harrisvotes.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author.

[1] https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/historical/harris.shtml

[2] https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/30/texas-voting-restrictions-senate/

[3] https://communityimpact.com/houston/spring-klein/election/2020/11/18/isabel-longoria-sworn-in-as-harris-countys-first-ever-elections-administrator/