Updated 12:58 p.m. on Wednesday to include a new statement from Secretary of State Rolando Pablos.
Texans–especially those in in Dallas, Bexar, Cameron and Travis counties–who registered to vote using an online tool provided by the California nonprofit vote.org are not eligible to vote.
The office of the secretary of state, the top elections administrator, says the applications submitted through vote.org weren’t valid because they didn’t have original signatures. (They would sign their name on a piece of paper, snap a photo of it and upload it to the online application.)
In a statement on Wednesday, Secretary of State Rolando Pablos said: “We remind all eligible Texas voters that online voter registration is not available in the State of Texas. Any web site that misleadingly claims to assist voters in registering to vote online by simply submitting a digital signature is not authorized to do so. All Texas voters should be extremely cautious when handing over personal and sensitive information to any unknown third party.”
He urged voters to check their registration status on the secretary of state’s website (https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do), where they could also get more information on the elections.
Texas does not have online voter registration.
Registration applications require original signatures. The applications filed through the vote.org process contained only copies of signatures — in the appended photos — which made them invalid.
The secretary of state is advising counties that received the applications to notify residents that they are incomplete. To finish registering, they will have to return applications with an original signature within 10 days of receiving the notice.
“Even if that 10th-day deadline falls after that Oct. 9 deadline, they would still have 10 days to sign an actionable form,” Taylor said. “It’s not going to affect whether or not these people are going to be registered.”
Executives at vote.org said they are sending printed applications with stamped envelopes to people who registered using their tool so they can complete them for free.