PVAMU Voter Registration Issues Are Resolved But Not Fixed

TexasTribune.org

An intense political back-and-forth over the validity of voter registrations of thousands of students at a historically black university has been resolved, but community advocates say significant voting barriers remain for students at Prairie View A&M University. Waller County, outside of Houston, quickly drew allegations of voter disenfranchisement after local Elections Administrator Christy Eason said last Tuesday that thousands of students who live on campus at Prairie View A&M had been incorrectly told to register to vote using an address in a different precinct and would need to fill out a change-of-address form before casting a ballot. A day later, the controversy drew national attention after a staffer working for Mike Siegel, the Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, was arrested and charged with failure to identify, a Class C misdemeanor, while trying to deliver a letter to the Waller County Courthouse that challenged the new change-of-address form requirement for the students. By late Friday, Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos had announced that “no change of address form or statement of residence will be required prior to voting” for the students.