A final audit report by the FEC noted that LFAF officials told agency staff the accounting errors “were obviously not intentional, but … due to lack of expertise from our volunteer treasurer.” Credit: Flickr / Erik (HASH) Hersman

The Texas House of Representatives’ Elections Committee has likely killed off a bill that would have enabled Texans to obtain their voter registrations online — a process available in 42 other states and the District of Columbia.

Lawmakers heard Democrat-backed House Bill 311 Thursday morning but left the proposal pending in committee with little chance of further movement as the clock ticks down on the legislative session.

“The bill was given a hearing as basically a courtesy,” Anthony Gutierrez, executive director at Common Cause, told the Current. “The deadline for House bills to be voted out of committees has already passed, so we knew before the hearing that it was unlikely to become law. ‘Unlikely’ because there is always the small possibility a bill could get added to another bill as an amendment.”

HB 311 would have streamlined the voter registration process by taking it online, rather than requiring it to be done in-person or by mail.

Texas is one of just eight states that don’t allow online voter registration. The rest are Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming — all of which are Republican-controlled.

HB 311 is authored by state Rep. John Bucy III, D-Austin, and co-sponsored by three other democrats, Reps. Aicha Davis, Maria Flores and Penny Morales Shaw. Two identical companion bills were introduced this session, House Bill 1321 and Senate Bill 977, but HB 311 picked up the most sponsors.

Texas has more than 18 million registered voters, according to the Texas Tribune. While Democrats in the state attempt to expand voting access, Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation to further restrict eligibility, including requiring proof of citizenship. The citizenship requirement is proposed in Senate Bill 16 and House Bill 5337, companion bills filed this session.

Critics argue there are already safeguards against non-citizens voting and that violations are extremely rare. What’s more, many U.S. citizens don’t have easy access to proof of citizenship — such as their birth certificate or a passport — which would limit poll access in a state that’s taken heat for its long history of voter suppression.

SB 16 and HB 5337 compound citizenship documentation requirements proposed at the federal level by the SAVE Act, authored by U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican whose district includes parts of San Antonio. Critics argue Roy’s legislation could disenfranchise millions of women whose married names don’t match the names on their birth certificates.

When it comes to voting access, the Lone Star State also lags behind roughly half the country by prohibiting same-day voter registration. Twenty three states and Washington D.C. currently allow people to register and vote on the same day, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In Texas, voters must register no later than 30 days before an election to be eligible.

With HB 311 likely dead on arrival, Gutierrez said the session represents yet another setback for voting rights in Texas.

“[It’s] incredibly disappointing, because online voter registration is such a common sense policy that would vastly improve our incredibly antiquated voter registration system,” he said. “Getting a hearing is a tiny bit of progress, because it’s been years since any online voter registration bill has even gotten a hearing. But, obviously, we would have preferred getting a hearing much earlier in session, when we would have had time to have a more robust conversation and actually give the bill a chance to become law.”

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This article appears in May 14-27, 2025.

Stephanie Koithan is the Digital Content Editor of the San Antonio Current. In her role, she writes about politics, music, art, culture and food. Send her a tip at skoithan@sacurrent.com.