Local post offices across Travis County have reversed a plan that would have allowed residents to register to vote in person today. October 7th is the last day Texans can register to vote on November 5th.

With the help of U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the county was willing to work with the Postal Service to register people by midnight – the deadline. But late last week, the Postal Service withdrew its offer, citing “security concerns,” Doggett told KUT.

He said the Postal Service agreed to allow voter registrars at certain post offices but then “changed their mind” at the last second.

“Texas is known as the state that puts the most obstacles in the way of voters, and the worst of all 50 states,” Doggett said. “And one of those requirements is an early deadline by which you have to register to vote.”

Residents can pick up an application at the post office, but there is no guarantee that the application will receive the correct postmark unless the person is in line to receive one.

The registration drive is part of an effort by Travis County election officials to help minimize late voter registration applications. Bruce Elfant, Travis County voter registrar, said thousands of applications are rejected each cycle because they don’t have a timely postmark. Applications for this cycle must be postmarked by today, October 7th.

“For years, I have worked with the U.S. Postal Service to find a solution that would minimize the number of citizens unable to vote due to late postmarks,” Elfant said.

Becky Hernandez, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service, told KUT that postal facilities can sometimes be used for voter registration, but this is at the discretion of regional and local postal administrations.

“Although we agreed to a previous application, after further review we had to reject it due to security issues and staffing shortages,” she said in a statement. “We regret having caused any confusion.”

She said the U.S. Postal Service is committed to the safe and timely delivery of the nation’s election mail, including ballots and voter registration applications.

Several local officials, lawyers and state lawmakers say Gov. Greg Abbott’s claims of voter fraud and Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempts to stop a program that sends out voter registration forms are aimed at intimidating voters and casting doubt on the election process.

No evidence of fraud was found, officials said.

Doggett said the Postal Service has been uncooperative in recent elections and this is just the latest example of that. However, he said this should not deter people from registering to vote in one of the most important elections in a generation.

“If Ken Paxton, along with Greg Abbott, is working so hard to block our vote, that should be all the more reason for everyone to register to vote,” he said, “and have a plan to vote as early as two weeks from Monday forge.” .”

Elfant said that while it is “disappointing” and “unfortunate” that the postal service has decided not to work with the county on this effort, the county will continue to do everything in its power to help eligible residents register to vote choice to help.

That’s why today the county is giving Travis County residents one last chance to register in person. The county will set up more than two dozen locations throughout the city where people can fill out an application locally.

Because the deadline is so close, Elfant said it’s best if people fill out the applications in person and even hand them in to the local tax office. He said it helps ensure an application is processed in a timely manner, citing the possibility of poor handwriting, incomplete applications or other factors that could cause errors or disruptions in the registration process.

Volunteer deputy registrars will be at several locations today, including local tax offices, ThunderCloud Subs restaurants and even local coffee shop Radio Coffee & Beer. At least four of the two dozen locations will be open until midnight.

“I would really encourage people who want to register or update their address at the last minute to either come to a tax office and register or go to one of the various locations that we have open on Monday,” he said. “We want to make it as easy as possible for people who want to participate in their democracy to do so.”

There are several other locations in Central Texas hosting voter registration drives today.

Just last month, Elfant said, 10,000 new voters were added to the voter rolls in Travis County. Today he expects thousands more. As of Wednesday, 917,741 people were registered to vote in Travis County.

This story was produced as part of the Austin MonitorReporting partnership with KUT.

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