SAN ANTONIO — Many Texans still have a chance to apply to vote by mail, but the deadline is coming up quick.
Friday marks the last day for eligible voters to submit their application, which has been a frustrating process for hundreds of Bexar County voters. And as early voting for the 2022 primaries begins this week, many are still waiting to get their mail-in ballots.
Susan Korbel, chair of the 3067 voting precinct in Castle Hills, says she and her husband had to fill out the application twice.
“On January 2nd I went to the state website and downloaded the forms. A while later we got a notice that they emailed us and sent us the documents… it was the new form,” Korbel said.
Korbel has spent decades doing market research in San Antonio and conducted a text campaign last week, which she says yielded many responses saying they haven’t received their mail-in ballot.
“I’m not saying nobody’s gotten them," she said. "But the people who haven’t gotten them, including myself, feel awful."
According to the Secretary of State’s Office, you are eligible to vote by mail in Texas if you’re 65 years or older; sick or disabled; expecting to give birth within three weeks before or after Election Day; absent from your registered county during early voting or Election Day; civilly committed; or confined in jail but otherwise eligible.
On Wednesday Texas Secretary of State John Scott sent a reminder to voters of the new ID requirements.
Eligible voters must put either a Texas driver’s license number or the last four digits of their social security number. In his video PSA, Scott recommended putting both numbers in.
Korbel fears that a minor error may cause a setback for voters.
“We know we want you to protect our individual rights to vote, but what if you’re in a situation where you wrote something a little wrong or maybe they read a 7 as a 1? Having those kinds of concerns was a problem,” Korbel said.
As of Jan. 20, Bexar County rejected over 470 mail-in ballot applications, and we’re waiting to get updated numbers.
Bexar County Republican Party Executive Director Gary Teal argues the changes make the vote secure.
“I don’t think it’s harder," he said. "People do have to supply one of those numbers, and so we’ll see after a couple of weeks what percentage of those problems were resolved."
The deadline to submit your application to vote by mail is this Friday. Any eligible voters who have questions about the application can go to the state elections website.