The Texas Secretary of State鈥檚 office is having more trouble than usual getting enough voter registration cards to groups who help Texans register to vote.
Sam Taylor, assistant secretary of state for communications, said supply chain issues have made it harder and more expensive to get paper, which means the Secretary of State's office will be giving out fewer voter registration forms to groups ahead of elections this year.
鈥淲e are limited in what we can supply this year, because of the paper shortage and the cost constraints due to the price of paper and the supply of paper,鈥� he said.
Grace Chimene, the president of the League of Women Voters of Texas, said it is not unusual for the Secretary of State to not have enough forms to fill all the requests it gets from groups like hers ahead of elections. This particular shortage, however, is affecting an important part of her group鈥檚 work: registering thousands of newly naturalized citizens.
Chimene said in previous years, her group, which has chapters across the state, has been able to get enough forms to pass out at naturalization ceremonies. Often, she said, the group partners with the state to give out several thousand forms at each ceremony.
鈥淭he League in Houston registers about 30,000 new citizens every year through these ceremonies in the past,鈥� Chimene said.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a mix of in-person and remote ceremonies. Chimene said her group has either been handing out voter registration materials at in-person events or they鈥檝e been sending out packets they put together ahead of time to those new citizens.
Either way, the League and their volunteers often ask for thousands of voter registration forms ahead of these ceremonies.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really important job that we do and we value it, and I think the new citizens value it also," Chimene said.
Taylor said the Secretary of State鈥檚 office has been forced to limit each group to 1,000 to 2,000 registration forms per request. He said this shortage is coming at a time when many groups are seeking out new voter registration forms because of a change in Texas鈥� voter registration laws created under , a controversial voting law that went into effect last month.
鈥淭he voter registration application changed this year for one reason: It鈥檚 because the legislature decided to increase the penalty for illegal voter registration from a class B misdemeanor to a class A misdemeanor,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd that has to be reflected on the new voter registration application.鈥�
Taylor said counties and groups across the state have had to order new applications that comply with the new law. He said officials will have to reject applications that are submitted on 鈥渙ld stock鈥� that doesn鈥檛 reflect the new rules.
Chimene said all these constraints present serious issues for her group as they try to get voter registration materials together ahead of these large naturalization ceremonies.
鈥淲e are treating all organizations that request these the same,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淲e are trying to fulfill these requests as fast we can. But the fact is we simply don鈥檛 have the supply to honor every single request for free applications.鈥�
According to Chimene, this is one of the pitfalls of Texas being among the few states in the country that does not have online voter registration. Supply chain issues are not as big of a problem when you can just direct someone to a website.
She鈥檚 also worried about the message this sends to newly naturalized citizens, which she said have been under . Chimene said the League is worried that newly naturalized, eligible voters are being targeted by the state's latest focus on potential non-citizen voters.
鈥淲e are concerned about it, and we are looking into it,鈥� Chimene said. 鈥淚t just sort all goes together: not providing the service they are supposed be providing to the citizens of Texas.鈥�
Chimene said the Secretary of State鈥檚 office has told the League to seek out donations instead of relying on the state for voter registration forms. She said she 鈥渄idn鈥檛 appreciate鈥� this considering the fact her group is a non-partisan nonprofit. However, Chimene said, her group will try and do what it can.
鈥淲e will ask our supporters, we will ask our friends and our neighbors,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd find out if we could have somebody donate to get this done.鈥�
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