As an out-of-state student from Texas, I’ve faced some struggles voting this election season. Out-of-state students have three options when it comes to voting: obtain a mail-in ballot from their home state, re-register in their school state, or not vote.
Since this is my first national election–and an extremely important one in my opinion–I knew I wanted to exercise my voting rights. But because this is most likely the only national election where I will be voting from Illinois, I didn’t see a purpose in re-registering. So the most appealing option was to request a ballot from my home state and vote by mail.
Here’s where the problems start. I filled out the digital copy of my Absentee Ballot Request form and emailed it to my local registrar’s office on Oct. 4. After being notified that they’d received my application, but couldn’t process it until they received a physical copy, I printed and mailed my application the next day. Weeks went by with no communication. When I asked the registrar if my physical application had been received, she said that it had and that my ballot had been mailed on Oct. 23.
Regardless of the fact that my ballot would probably not arrive in time for me to vote and get the ballot back to Texas by Nov. 5, there was also a discrepancy between the registrar’s information and state information. I checked the ballot tracker on the state government website, and it said that my request had been received and approved on Oct.15 and was sent Oct. 19.
This information also wasn’t correct. After speaking with a different registrar, they said the state information meant my application had been approved on the 15th, the label was printed the 19th and the ballot was mailed the 23rd. There was an 8 day gap in my application approval and the ballot being mailed. After voicing my concerns that my ballot would not arrive in time, and my voter’s rights would be denied, I have no further response from my local registrar.
Texas is one of a few states that recently tried to block mail-in votes from out-of-state Texas residents and residents who are currently overseas, so this situation is sadly unsurprising to me.
When my ballot does arrive I plan on filling it out and mailing it, even though it will be considered late. I personally feel as if my voter’s rights are being intentionally violated and I will be taking further action against the state if and when my vote is denied.