SAN ANTONIO — Bexar County leaders are hoping to secure the vote by mail.
Seniors, people with disabilities, and people who are unable to vote in person on Election Day are among the groups eligible to vote by mail in Texas. After Senate Bill 1 changed some of the requirements to vote by mail, Bexar County saw a historically high rejection rate.
For some voters, they were frustrated with how the process has changed.
“Voting is an important thing to do, and it’s part of being American,” Jean Aratinji told KENS 5.
The northside resident remembers being in college when she wanted to vote for John F. Kennedy. In 1974, she became a part of the League of Women Voters.
“I was going to the voting booth with my parents as a child, so I’ve always been involved,” Aratinji said.
The pandemic changed her voting habits. Aratinji and her husband started voting by mail. This past primary, her husband made a mistake on the mail-in ballot application by forgetting to write down his driver’s license number and sealed the envelope.
He wrote the number on the outside of the envelope with hopes it would be accepted.
“The Thursday or Friday after the election, his rejection letter came…It was frustrating to me, and you know, to him to have this happen,” Aratinji said.
The same thing happened to county commissioner Justin Rodriguez’s mother.
“It’s troubling when you see the numbers and typically you see a two or three percent rejection rate historically, and this election cycle was over 20 percent rejection rate,” Commissioner Rodriguez said.
According to the Bexar County Elections Office, 3,940 total mail ballots were rejected. The rejection rate was 22.3% for Democratic voters and 20.3% for Republicans.
Last week during Commissioner’s Court, Bexar County requested the district attorney’s office to review the Texas Election Code to see what they can do to bring that rate down.
One method could include the county creating a public awareness campaign, like what they did back in 2020. The county sent out flyers like to inform voters on how to vote safely during the height of the pandemic.
One of the changes prevents election officials from sending unsolicited applications for mail-in ballots, which is why Commissioner Rodriguez is seeking legal advice.
“I want to be very careful, again, as an elected official, not to skirt that law…I think a thorough legal analysis will be helpful in what we can and can’t do,” the commissioner said.
Aratinji says the changes made by the state legislature are leaving some voters disappointed.
“Did they think everybody that goes into a voting booth is a fraud? It’s impossible, it’s just not right,” Aratinji said.
County leaders are hopeful the DA’s office can have a report ready for the next commissioner’s court meeting on April 5.
Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen told KENS 5 the DA’s office has not contacted her about their plans.