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Growing up in Anderson County, I didn’t know many people with a passport. Like many other rural Texans, I had hardly left the state, let alone the country. I only got mine after moving to Dallas in my twenties, before traveling to India to meet my future in-laws. That trip was also the first time I ever held my birth certificate. Until then, my mom kept it safe for me as I bounced between dorms and apartments in college and my early career.
I keep going back to these moments as I watch Texas lawmakers push forward Senate Bill 16, which would require all Texans to show proof of citizenship, like a birth certificate or passport, when they register to vote. Lawmakers say that this is “just” an extra step to make sure registered Texans are citizens, but it is, in actuality, a pointless step: the current system already confirms citizenship.
This may sound like a simple requirement on paper, but in reality, it imposes steep barriers for working Texans, young voters, and especially those in rural counties like the one I came from. In Anderson County, the nearest Department of Public Safety or elections office is often more than half an hour away. That’s at least an hour round-trip—not counting time of work or gas money, which many families simply don’t have to spare.
Like my dad always says, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Texas already has systems in place to verify voter eligibility. County elections officials and the Secretary of State work daily to maintain accurate, secure voter rolls. SB 16 won’t strengthen our elections—it just makes it harder for eligible Texans to cast ballots and hold their elected officials accountable.
As someone who works with a civic engagement nonprofit that helps young people engage in the democratic process, I hear from students all the time who are eager to vote, but are overwhelmed by the complexity of our registration system. Texas already makes it unnecessarily difficult to register: no online option, and a 30-day deadline to submit your application before Election Day. Now, lawmakers want to add another hurdle: “Show us your papers—or don’t vote.”
It’s deeply troubling that under this bill, people could be denied the ability to register simply because they lack access to documents. And let’s not pretend this burden is felt equally. Young voters, naturalized citizens, low-income Texans, and rural communities will be hit hardest.
In communities like the one I grew up in, there is little civic infrastructure. Voting isn’t discouraged, but it’s not a strong part of the social fabric. When your family is worried about keeping the lights on or putting food on the table, navigating red tape to register to vote isn’t exactly top of mind. That doesn’t mean people in Anderson County or similar rural communities are apathetic. It means they’ve been consistently underinvested in, and the system is working against them.
We should work to meet people where they are, not put more roadblocks in their way. Expanding online voter registration, modernizing our systems, and funding outreach in rural areas would do far more to strengthen our democracy than this paperwork-heavy, punitive proposal.
As a proud East Texan, I love my home state. But I’m not proud of our persistently low voter turnout—or of the ways we make participation more complicated than it needs to be. A healthy democracy isn’t measured by how hard it is to vote. It’s measured by how many people make their voice heard.
SB 16 is a step in the wrong direction. Let’s invest in making voting more accessible, not more exclusive.
