Harris County is rejecting far fewer mail-in ballot applications and actual ballots for this year’s midterm elections, compared to the March primaries.
During the March primaries, the mail-in ballot application rejection rate hovered around 20%, but for the midterms it’s just under 2%.
Of the 82,000 applications received, only 1,500 have been rejected. Leah Shah is with the Harris County Elections Administrator’s Office. She said over the last nine months, the office has focused on educating the public on what’s now required.
“We’ve increased our mail ballot team by 20 people dedicated to only reaching out to voters who are voting by mail, that are needing assistance, that have questions about the process,” Shah said. “And of course, reaching back out to the voters if they require corrections.”
Just under 4% of the actual ballots mailed in, have been rejected because of Senate Bill 1, which provides sweeping changes to state election laws, and made stricter vote-by-mail laws.
