Aiming to get Texas voters to polls, nonprofit contacts Austinites
JULY 26, 2022 — Austin, Texas — Axios Austin reported on VoteRiders’ recent Texas letter writing campaign which put important voter ID information in front of 10,000 Texas voters.
Author: Asher Price
Published: July 26, 2022
Apparently it’s never too early to put voter ID information in front of Texans.
Driving the news: Some voters in the Austin area have been getting letters from VoteRiders, a nonpartisan nonprofit founded in California, about the types of identification required to vote.
What they’re saying: “You need to act as soon as you can to get the ID you need to cast a ballot,” executive director Lauren Kunis tells Axios. “Our message is to prepare as early as you can, to make sure you’re not caught flat-footed at the polls.”
Between the lines: Texas is one of seven states to have enacted stricter voter ID rules since the 2020 elections.
- The organization plans to spend at least $300,000 this year on its efforts in Texas, which include staffing, PSAs and digital campaigns, text messages and letter writing to eligible voters, and helping them obtain state-issued ID.
- Kunis tells Axios that in addition to its initial letter campaign to 10,000 Texas voters most impacted by voter ID laws — including students, seniors who no longer drive and people of color — the organization is now contacting 25,000 Texas voters whose ballots were rejected in the March primary.
- VoteRiders is also operating in the swing states of Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
By the numbers: More than 17 million Texans were registered to vote in the March primary — but fewer than one in five actually cast a ballot.
Zoom out: Texas is one of 36 states with a voter identification law.
- Yes, but: You can still cast a provisional ballot in Texas if you don’t have an acceptable ID with you when you vote.
The bottom line: Registering — and later turning out — voters sympathetic to your message is the political equivalent of trench warfare, and the campaigns of Gov. Greg Abbott and challenger Beto O’Rourke are spending these dog-day summer months doing just that.
