BPC Elections Project: New Texas Voting Bill is a Step in the Wrong Direction

Washington, DC – Today, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Elections Project released the following statement regarding the passage of HB3 in the Texas House of Representatives.

“Putting it bluntly, this bill makes it harder to vote through bans on drop boxes as well as 24-hour, drive-through, and curbside voting,” said Matthew Weil, director of BPC’s Election Project. “When state legislatures should be focused on strengthening and expanding the voter access improvements from 2020, like expanded mail and early voting, Texas is taking a step in the wrong direction by restricting ballot access to promote a mirage of security.”

“HB3 makes a number of dangerous changes to the behind-the-scenes work of running an election,” said Rachel Orey, policy analyst for BPC’s Election Project. “It gives observers more leeway to interfere in election operations and criminalizes certain mistakes by election officials. Despite no evidence of widespread fraud in 2020, these latent changes sow doubt and distrust in the operations of our democracy.”

Elections Project Director Matthew Weil and Policy Analyst Rachel Orey are available for comment.