On November 18, the Fifth Circuit refused to reconsider its earlier decision in Voting for America v Steen, 12-40914. The issues are Texas laws which severely inhibit the activity of workers who register voters. Texas prohibits out-of-state residents from asking Texas residents if they wish to register to vote and from collecting applications from people who choose to register. Texas even prohibits residents of one county from working in another county. Texas also bans paying people to work on voter registration drives. Texas also prohibits registration drive workers from photocopying completed voter registration forms.
The original decision, refusing to enjoin any of these requirements, was handed down on October 3, 2013. Plaintiffs may seek U.S. Supreme Court review. Here is the request for a rehearing, which explains the issues in this case. The U.S. District Court had enjoined many of the restrictions but the Fifth Circuit had reversed.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
Anyone, even non-Texans, may distribute blank voter registration applications, which an applicant may complete and mail in.
It has a separate program where Texans may serve a Volunteer Deputy Registrar (VDR), acting as agents of the county registrars.
In so doing, the VDR makes sure that the form is completed (they don’t need to verify the information that the applicant supplies, just that the form is filled in and signed, etc.). The VDR is then required to deliver the completed form to the county voter registrar.
A VDR may be deputized for multiple counties. If they aren’t deputized for a particular county, they may simply have the voter mail the registration in.
Texas does not ban paying persons from working on voter registration drives. It prohibits payment based on quotas or securing a particular number of applications.