Opinion ID: 1043362
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The County Provision

Text: Texas Election Code § 13.038 provides that a VDR may distribute and accept applications for voter registration throughout the county in which he is qualified. As interpreted by the state of Texas, a VDR must be appointed in every county in which an applicant resides so that a VDR who is appointed in County A yet submits an application for a citizen who resides in County B is 42 Case: 12-40914 Document: 00512395979 Page: 43 Date Filed: 10/03/2013 No. 12-40914 subject to criminal prosecution.2 The district court found that the plaintiffs had demonstrated that the County Provision imposes heavy time and administrative burdens on their organizations. These rules force the organizations to have their canvassers and managerial staff appointed as VDRs in multiple counties. This is especially burdensome in the larger metropolitan areas where voters may reside in one of several area counties. As pointed out by the district court, a VDR active in the City of Dallas would need to be appointed in five different counties in order to accept applications in all parts of the city. Texas has 254 counties which magnifies the burden of this limitation. A VDR will not always know in which county a potential voter resides simply by the fact that he is present at a registration drive rally. Thus, the VDR in this situation risks criminal sanctions for accepting a voter registration application from a resident of a county in which the VDR has not been appointed. It is obvious how this rule would chill the plaintiffs’ registration activities. The Secretary provided little justification for this rule. State, not county, laws govern voter registration, so there are no county-specific issues relevant to VDR appointment. Although the Secretary argued that the County Provision helps prevent fraud by making local county registrars more aware of VDR activity in their counties, the registrars are made aware of the identity of the VDRs when they submit voter registration applications. See TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. §13.040 (VDRs must provide a receipt to the registrar with submitted voter registration applications that identifies the county of their appointment). The 2 Although plaintiffs initially understood the rules to require VDRs to also be trained in every county in which they sought appointment, the state has interpreted the statutes to require training in only one county. 43 Case: 12-40914 Document: 00512395979 Page: 44 Date Filed: 10/03/2013 No. 12-40914 district court correctly found that this provision violated plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights.