EDITORIAL/Fighting What Fraud? Texas Senate votes to do away with countywide voting

The Texas state Senate on Thursday voted to ban countywide polling sites on election day.

An identical bill is pending in the state House of Representatives.

Around 90 counties -- including, as of last year, Bowie County -- allow voters to cast their ballot at any polling place in that county on election day. The bill would require Texans to vote at assigned precinct polling places rather than at the polling location of their choice.

The bill is supported by Republicans, who say it is vital to prevent voter fraud.

Democrats oppose it, saying the Texas Secretary of State's office has debunked claims to voters casting ballots at multiple location. They also say it inconveniences some voters, such as those with disabilities who might live closer to a polling place than the one they are assigned or workers who use a polling place near their job.

In our view the bill is a solution to a problem no one has been able to show exists. If there is evidence of voters casting multiple ballots, and cutting out countywide voting would help stop it, by all means get rid of it. But even the bill's sponsor, when asked on the Senate floor, couldn't name a county where there was any evidence of a voter casting more than one ballot.

Voter participation is good. We want more Texans to vote. Politicians from both parties say they do, too.

So why make it more difficult without a good reason?

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