Texas Flagged 27K Mail-In Primary Ballots for Rejection Under New State Law

Texas flagged more than 27,000 mail-in ballots for rejection in the state's first-in-the-nation March 1 primary, potentially imperiling tens of thousands of votes.

The figure, obtained through an Associated Press analysis, reflected the potential impact of new voting restrictions enacted in Texas, which was the first test of such measures introduced across the U.S. since the 2020 election.

Voters in both parties stand to be affected by the rejections, and some votes may not be counted at all, the AP reported, adding that previous elections saw far fewer ballot rejections than those expected to be finalized in Texas' most recent election. In the state's 2020 general election, for example, less than 1 percent of mail-in ballots across the state were rejected, according to federal data.

Under a sweeping election law signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott last fall, voters were subject to new requirements that included listing either their driver's license number or a Social Security number on the mail-in ballot's envelope, according to the AP.

The ballots could be flagged for rejection if the numbers didn't align with county records. Voters whose ballots were flagged for rejection had the opportunity to add an ID number online, try to fix the issue in person at the county's election offices or vote on Election Day with a provisional ballot, the AP added.

The flagging of the 27,000 ballots, per the AP analysis, does not necessarily mean that all of them will be discarded. Monday was the deadline for voters to remedy issues like non-matching or missing identification numbers on the ballots.

Election officers in various Texas counties have said that they worked hard to get in touch with voters whose ballots were flagged before the deadline, but some have already been fully disqualified, the AP reported. A full count of the rejected ballots in the state is expected to be more conclusive in the coming days.

Texas' primary elections dealt with the gubernatorial, attorney general and congressional races. Abbott, a Republican, won his party's primary, while Beto O'Rourke won the Democratic race, The Hill reported.

The unusually high number of flagged ballots wasn't the only issue in the Texas primary. About 10,000 mail-in ballots in Harris County, the state's most populous county, went uncounted after they were scanned into the tabulation computer but not included in the official results tally, Newsweek previously reported. Harris County's elections administrator submitted her resignation soon after the discrepancy came to light.

Newsweek has reached out to Abbott's office for comment but did not hear back by publication time.

Update 03/10/22, 3:25 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information and background.