Because We Can

Texas Republicans changed voting rules for millions of voters. Their explanation was simple: “because we can.”

The sheep have been watching the elections.

Across the country this week, primary results revealed something that has been building quietly for more than a year - Democratic voters are showing up in large numbers. Special elections and primaries have repeatedly produced turnout levels that far exceed expectations.

In Texas, Democratic primary voters selected state representative James Talarico over U.S. representative Jasmine Crockett in a closely watched Senate primary. But the result itself was only part of the story. The turnout was striking. Democratic voters showed up in such large numbers that they overwhelmed Republican primary participation.

Since President Donald Trump returned to office, more than ninety special elections nationwide, Democratic candidates have outperformed the results of the 2024 presidential election by an average of thirteen points.

The sheep recognize what that pattern usually means.

Enthusiasm.

When voters are energized, they tend to show up in elections that once passed quietly. Special elections become referendums. Local races take on national significance. Turnout rises in places where it once lagged.

But in Texas, the sheep also saw something else.

They saw how election rules can change when enthusiasm begins to shift the balance of power.

For years, voters in many Texas counties could cast ballots at any polling location within their county. The system, known as countywide voting, made it easier for people to participate. If one polling place was crowded, voters could go to another. If work schedules or transportation made one location inconvenient, another option was available.

In Dallas County and Williamson County, however, local Republican Party chairs recently abandoned that system.

The change meant voters could only cast ballots at their assigned precinct polling location. For many voters accustomed to countywide voting, the shift created confusion about where they were supposed to go.

Michelle Evans, the Republican Party chair in Williamson County, explained the decision candidly when asked by KUT News in Austin why the change had been made.

“I could tell you why we made the change,” she said. “But at the end of the day, it’s because we can. It’s legal. It’s something we’re entitled to do, and it’s something that our party would like us to do.”

The sheep paused at that explanation.

Because we can.

On Election Day, the consequences became visible. Voters arrived at polling places where they had voted before, only to be told they were in the wrong location. Some were redirected across town. Others struggled to find accurate information about where to go.

The Texas secretary of state’s office did not provide clear guidance to voters in the affected counties. As confusion spread, the Dallas County election department’s website crashed under the surge of traffic from voters trying to determine where they were allowed to vote.

Local officials attempted to respond.

In Dallas County, Democratic Party chair Kardal Coleman filed an emergency petition asking a court to keep polls open longer so voters who had been misdirected would still have a chance to cast ballots. A district court judge agreed, ordering Democratic primary polling places to remain open two additional hours.

The judge cited what he described as “mass confusion” over where voters were entitled to vote and noted that the confusion had become severe enough to overwhelm the county’s election infrastructure.

In Williamson County, another judge issued a similar order, allowing two polling locations to remain open until 10:00 PM.

The sheep thought that seemed reasonable, but the story did not end there.

Texas attorney general Ken Paxton - who is himself running for the same Senate seat that Democratic voters had just selected James Talarico to contest - challenged the orders. The case moved quickly to the Texas Supreme Court, which is dominated by Republican justices.

The court blocked the lower court rulings.

Under its decision, voters who were not already in line by the original closing time of 7:00 PM could still cast ballots, but those ballots would be separated from the others. It remains unclear whether they will ultimately be counted.

The sheep noticed the uncertainty.

When ballots are separated and their status becomes ambiguous, voters may never know whether their participation mattered.

Emily Eby French of Common Cause Texas described the situation bluntly when speaking with journalist Jen Rice of Democracy Docket. “We can’t let a small group of conspiracy theorists set the rules for Texas voters anymore,” she said. “Two individuals controlled the way millions of Texas voters were able to cast a ballot yesterday.”

According to French, the decision to abandon countywide voting was rooted not in evidence of fraud but in conspiracy theories about election integrity.

Those theories, she said, produced predictable results: panic, confusion, and disenfranchisement.

The sheep have seen this pattern before.

In moments when voter enthusiasm rises, election rules often become contested terrain. Procedures that once seemed technical - polling locations, registration deadlines, ballot handling - suddenly carry political weight.

Sometimes those changes are justified as necessary safeguards. Sometimes they are simply exercises of power.

This week’s election in Texas showed both sides of the American system at work.

On one hand, voters turned out in large numbers to participate in a democratic process. Special elections across the country suggest that many Americans remain deeply engaged with politics.

On the other hand, administrative decisions by a small number of officials created barriers that left voters uncertain about whether their ballots would count.

The sheep are struck by how much influence can rest in very few hands.

Two county party chairs decided to abandon a voting system that had made participation easier. One state attorney general challenged a judicial effort to mitigate the resulting confusion. A state supreme court determined whether additional votes would be counted.

Millions of voters were affected by those choices.

The sheep believe elections are the foundation of a republic. They are the mechanism by which citizens express their will and hold leaders accountable. But elections depend on rules, and rules depend on the people who write and enforce them.

When turnout rises and political energy surges, those rules become especially important.

The sheep are watching carefully to see whether the ballots cast this week in Texas will ultimately be counted.

Because enthusiasm matters in a democracy.

But only if the votes that enthusiasm produces are allowed to stand.