On August 25, Governor Abbott sent a directive to the Texas Legislature expanding the call of the second special session to include legislation to “prohibit same-day voter registration in Texas.”
This took many by surprise because it wasn’t widely known that same-day voter registration was allowed in Texas.
Texas has one of the most restrictive voter registration processes in the nation. For example, there is no online voter registration, there are long registration deadlines, there is a strict photo voter ID law and there are administrative burdens in Texas that are not present in many other states.
A 2025 Brennan Center study found that when a voter’s mail ballot or application is rejected under Texas’ restrictive laws, it leads to lingering disengagement — people are less likely to vote again for at least two years, especially among nonwhite voters.
But in the 2025 regular legislative session, Texas passed Senate Bill 2217, which allowed voters who change their address within the same county to immediately cast a ballot for their new precinct or district on Election Day.
The provision became law with bipartisan support, and it takes effect on September 1.
Now, Governor Abbott’s new proposal would halt the rollout of the SB 2217 provision, restoring the rule that allows address updates at the polls only after a 30-day waiting period.
Supporters of the rollback argue this safeguard ensures election administration remains secure and accurate. Critics, however, view it as an unnecessary restriction of voter flexibility, especially for mobile populations such as students.
This wrinkle in Texas election law is casting a revealing light on what voter rights experts say is the state’s antiquated, rickety and unnecessarily burdensome voter registration process which is a form of voter suppression.
Guest: Natalia Contreras covers election administration and voting access for Votebeat in partnership with The Texas Tribune. She explains how the law was passed and what happens moving forward.
Redistricting Court Challenge
The controversial new redistricting congressional map has been passed by the Texas House and Senate, and Governor Abbott has signed it. The map is gerrymandered to provide five additional seats to Republicans.
Gerrymandering manipulates electoral maps to maximize partisan advantage by “packing” voters of the opposing party into as few districts as possible or “cracking” them across many districts to dilute their influence. With these tactics political mapmakers can all but guarantee outcomes before a single ballot is cast. In states, like Texas, where one party controls both the legislature and the governor’s office, redistricting often becomes an exercise in consolidating power rather than reflecting population shifts fairly. And voters pay the price.
The Texas NAACP says the new map as well as the previous map are illegal and are racially gerrymandered.
They are asking the courts to block the map so it can’t be used in the 2026 midterm election. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under Law are representing the NAACP in their challenge.
Guest: Robert Weiner is the director of The Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
