Texas DMV Voter Registration

Lawsuit brought by the Texas Civil Rights Project against Texas alleging the state violates the Motor Voter provisions of National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). The NVRA requires states to offer voter registration or the ability to update registrations when an eligible voter obtains, renews or updates his or her driver’s license. The lawsuit challenged the state’s misleading practice of providing the option to register to vote when completing online transactions with the transportation agency, even though checking this option did not actually register someone to vote. The district court found that this violated the NVRA and 14th Amendment and struck the law down, but after the plaintiffs updated their registration the court found that they no longer had standing to sue. The Texas Democratic Party, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) successfully intervened in the case to expand this victory. The court granted the intervenor-plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction and ordered the state to comply with the NVRA. The parties reached a settlement in which Texas will permanently offer simultaneous voter registration when an eligible voter renews or updates his or her driver’s licenses or ID cards online.

Last updated: August 17, 2021 9:43 pm EST