Texas' October 5 deadline to register to vote in the November general election is right around the corner.
A lot is at stake in 2020, but new voter registrations in Texas were down nearly 24% for the first seven months of 2020, compared to 2016, and dropped 70% in April alone.
There's been an uptick in more recent months, but it might not be enough to get the state's number of registered voters to where it would have been if not for the coronavirus pandemic.
Most states have passed legislation to allow residents to register to vote online. Texas isn't one of them.
The state's Republican leadership has long fought online voter registration. What are their reasons? Does this constitute voter suppression?
Are both Democrats and Republicans struggling to register voters? Are other states also seeing lower registration rates?
How could lower registration numbers impact election outcomes? How have the courts weighed in on voting-related issues in Texas?
What's being done to ramp up registration ahead of the Oct. 5 deadline in Texas? How can Texans check their registration status, update their information as needed or get registered to vote for the first time?
Guests:
- Alex Samuels, political reporter for The Texas Tribune
- Myrna Perez, director of the Voting Rights and Elections Program at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice
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*This interview was recorded on Tuesday, September 22.