Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

TX Lt. Gov Put the Wrong Address on Mail-In Ballot Applications and It Could Totally Backfire

TX Lt. Gov Put the Wrong Address on Mail-In Ballot Applications and It Could Totally Backfire
Lynda M. Gonzalez-Pool/Getty Images

The 150+ year old institution of voting by mail remains a major target of conservative voter suppression efforts. Promoters of former President Donald Trump's fantasy that the 2020 election was "stolen" from him routinely lie that mail-in ballots are rife with fraud. Far-right Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, in a complaint that was dismissed by the Supreme Court, argued that Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin were acting unlawfully when they expanded access to mail-in ballots for their voters.

The voter suppression bills passed in multiple states in the 15 months since the 2020 election have targeted voting by mail as well. In a provision recently blocked by a federal judge, Senate Bill 1 in Texas made it a felony to send unsolicited mail-in ballot applications to voters (unless they're sent by political candidates), while also limiting access to drop boxes for mail ballots. The law in Iowa now mandates that mail-in ballots be received by Election Day, rather than postmarked by that day, in order to be counted. In Georgia, GOP lawmakers slashed the amount of time voters have to request absentee ballots, from 180 days to 78.


Paradoxically, Republican candidates still rely on mail-in ballots for victories. Taking advantage of the candidate exception in Texas' law banning unsolicited mail-in ballot applications, Republican congressman Dan Crenshaw sent unsolicited applications to voters in his district.

Also in Texas, new reporting from Alexa Ura of the Texas Tribune revealed that Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick's campaign sent thousands of return envelopes for mail-in ballot applications to Republican voters in central Texas. The problem? The pre-stamped return envelopes, included in a mailer detailing how to request a mail-in ballot, were addressed to the Secretary of State's office, rather than the local election offices to which the applications are required to be mailed.

As a result, these applications have been significantly delayed, with the Secretary of State's office working to redirect them to their proper election offices

Patrick's campaign insists the error wasn't an accident, and said that “many Republican voters are rightly suspicious of Blue County election officials," adding:

“The decision to direct return mail to the Secretary of State (SOS), someone who is trusted and respected, gave voters an added layer of comfort."

But according to the Tribune, the website for the Secretary of State's office warned that “all applications received by this office will be rejected.” Curiously, this language was removed from the website at the beginning of the month.

As of last week, election offices were still receiving hundreds of the diverted applications just ahead of the Friday deadline for correcting ballot application errors. As a result, many Republican voters may not be sent a mail-in ballot for the March primary at all.

This could come back to bite the Lieutenant Governor






But even though it's likely-Republican voters affected by the tactic, Democrats still spoke out against it.



It won't be until March 1—the date of the Texas primaries—that we'll know how egregiously this tactic will affect Republican participation in the central region of the state.

More from News

bride and groom cutting wedding cake
Wedding Dreamz on Unsplash

People Who Smashed Wedding Cake In Their Spouse's Face Reveal How Their Relationship Is Going Now

According to The Knot wedding resource magazine and website, smashing cake into the face of a spouse after tying the knot is a tradition tied to medieval England. To celebrate the marriage, the bride would toss a piece of piece of cake over her shoulder for good luck.

This evolved into newlyweds feeding a piece of cake to one another, then taking frosting or a small bit of cake and rubbing it gently onto each other's faces—usually the cheek or tip of the nose.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of U.S. Army veteran who criticized Donald Trump
@btnewsroom/TikTok

U.S. Army Vet Goes Viral With Blistering Speech Ripping Trump For Deploying Troops To L.A.

A U.S. Army veteran went viral after she spoke out to encourage other current and former military members to publicly condemn President Donald Trump for using them as "pawns" to suit his own ends after he deployed the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles amid ongoing protests against his administration's immigration raids.

Trump has activated over 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines, despite opposition from city and state leaders. He has painted a bleak picture of Los Angeles—claims that Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom say are wildly exaggerated.

Keep ReadingShow less
Barack and Michelle Obama
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The Obamas Just Shared A Rare Family Photo With Their Adult Daughters To Celebrate Sasha's Birthday

Former President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama warmed hearts when they shared the same photo to their respective social media accounts, showing them with their adult daughters, Sasha and Malia, to commemorate Sasha's 24th birthday.

Sasha Obama was born in June 2001, nearly eight years before the family moved into the White House at the start of her father's first term in January 2009. She and her older sister, Malia, now 26, spent their formative years in the presidential residence, growing up there throughout their father’s two terms, until the family departed in 2017.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Joe Biden
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images; Scott Olson/Getty Images

Trump Dragged After Hilariously Flubbing Insult About Biden's Mental Acuity

The term malaphor means when two or more colloquial phrases or idioms get confused and combined to create something nonsensical. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), malaphors are a common symptom of frontotemporal dementia or other cognitive impairments.

So when a person seeks to accuse someone of being unintelligent, their use of malaphors is ironic and possibly very telling—narcissists will always accuse others of their own faults and failures.

Keep ReadingShow less
Christy Walton; Donald Trump
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

MAGA Now Calling For Walmart Boycott After Heiress Funds Ad Promoting Anti-Trump Protests

MAGA fans are boycotting Walmart after Christy Walton, one of the retail giant's heirs, took out a full-page ad in The New York Times promoting the “No Kings” protests planned against President Donald Trump's military parade.

Walton, who is worth an estimated $19.3 billion and ranks among the wealthiest women in the U.S., urged critics of Trump to "mobilize" against the parade—echoing a similar message she shared in a New York Times ad back in March.

Keep ReadingShow less