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Administering Elections in Harris County
The Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office and the Harris County Clerk’s Office are responsible for voter registration and administering and managing elections in Harris County, respectively. Both offices engage in various outreach activities to increase and enhance voter registration and participation among Harris County voters, such as collaborating with media outlets, stakeholders and community organizations, and schools and universities. Additional outreach events include Volunteer Deputy Voter Registrar (VDVR) trainings, provided by the Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office, as required by state law, and sending text-to-register messages to encourage eligible voters to register to vote.

As the most populous county in Texas, Harris County has consistently registered a large portion of its eligible voters, but turnout, particularly in non-presidential elections, remains a challenge. For example, during the 2022 general election, only 42.9% of Harris County registered voters participated, compared to 65.9% in the 2020 presidential election. This highlights the need for targeted voter participation strategies, even as the county reached a 91.4% voter registration rate ahead of the November 2020 general election.

Learning from Other Counties
When examining strategies implemented in other counties to increase voter registration and participation, the Research and Analysis Division (RAD) found that elections staff generally used a multi-pronged approach, deploying a combination of direct voter outreach initiatives, media partnerships, extension of voter registrar’s voter registration office hours and voting hours, and direct communication with voters, among other initiatives. Among the initiatives used to increase voter engagement, is direct communication with eligible voters through various strategies, which a number of counties have used in the past, including Harris County’s Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office.

For example, one initiative used by Los Angeles County is to send two-way text messages or emails to remind voters of important upcoming election dates. Dallas County Elections Department also considered using a text-to-register initiative, where eligible voters receive a link to the voter registration application form to print, fill out, and submit to the Elections Department. The Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office previously implemented a text message program to encourage eligible voters to register. Eligible voters would text “RegisterHarris” to a phone number to receive a link to the voter registration application on the Tax Office’s Voter Registration Portal, where they can print, fill out, and sign and mail in a voter registration application. Though the initiative was not implemented for the November 2024 general election, staff from the Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office indicated that this is a possible initiative that they can pursue in the future as they increase their outreach staff’s capacity.

Harris County Commissioners Court’s Motion
Based on the initiatives of other counties and recommendations made by the Research and Analysis Division, in August 2024, the Harris County Commissioners Court approved a motion directing the Office of County Administration, the Tax-Assessor Collector’s Office, and the County Attorney’s Office to implement the text to register program, develop an unregistered voters’ map, and initiate a voter registration mailer pilot program. Due to the short timeline, the recommendation was tabled for the 2024 election, though Harris County may consider developing initiatives, particularly those aimed at increasing voter participation, ahead of future elections!

To learn more about RAD’s research, click here to read the whole report!