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Access To Secure Ballot Drop-Off Locations In Texas, Karner Alex, Dana Rowangould
Access To Secure Ballot Drop-Off Locations In Texas, Karner Alex, Dana Rowangould
University of Vermont Transportation Research Center
Safe access to voting during the Covid-19 pandemic was a concern across the US. In Texas, a push for mail-in voting during the November 2020 presidential election was significantly scaled back when the governor restricted each county to one secure ballot drop-off location. We evaluate the effect of this change, finding that it increased travel times to drop-off locations for drivers and public transit users by 18 and 32 minutes, respectively, in the most affected county. When evaluated across the state, the policy had a disproportionate effect on eligible Asian, Black, and Latinx voters.