As bad as S.B. 1 is, it did do one thing that can help Democrats in rural Texas--it expanded extended voting hours for rural counties.
Previously, extended voting hours during the last week of early voting were only required for a county with a population of 100,000 or greater. S.B. 1 drops that population requirement to 55,000. Now, any county with 55,000 population will be required to have twelve hours of early voting per day (between 6:00 a.m and 10:00 p.m.) during the last week of early voting. In The 134 these counties are Maverick, Hood, Wise and Coryell. Counties with under 55,000 population can also have extended hours as well, all that takes is a petition signed by 15 registered voters of the County.
This change also applies to Saturday voting. Now counties with at least 55,000 population will be required to conduct early voting on the last Saturday in early voting for 12 hours and Sunday for at least 6 hours. Counties with under 55,000 can also have this Saturday and Sunday voting by petition with the signatures of 15 registered voters.
15 registered voters is not a lot. We bet we can even do that in Loving County. Want to run a petition in your county? Send us a message, or comment below.