![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/VB_GabrielVCardenas_01.jpg\")
Tania Chavez Camacho, executive director of La Uni\u00f3n del Pueblo Entero, embraces and congratulates Sof\u00eda P\u00e9rez, 83, after she voted on the first day of early voting in Alamo on Oct. 19, 2026. Credit: Votebeat \/ Gabriel V. C\u00e1rdenas<\/p>\n
This coverage is made possible through Votebeat<\/a>, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting access. Sign up for Votebeat Texas\u2019 free newsletters here<\/a>.<\/p>\n This story was produced with support from the Pulitzer Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n ALAMO \u2014 Eustorgia Santos de Torres has lived here for four decades. Last year, she turned to a trusted Rio Grande Valley nonprofit for help navigating the citizenship application process. The same nonprofit \u2014 La Uni\u00f3n del Pueblo Entero, or LUPE \u2014 then helped her register to vote, and she cast her first ballot as a citizen in the primary election last March.<\/p>\n Santos de Torres, 67, is retired after years cleaning houses and working as a healthcare aide. She speaks mainly Spanish and is the primary caretaker for her husband, Nemorio, who is blind. \u201cYo soy sus ojos,\u201d Santos de Torres said \u2014 I am his eyes. <\/p>\n But last month, Santos de Torres, a new voter, struggled to help Nemorio, an American-born citizen, understand and cast his mail ballot for the November election. All the information on the ballot is in English, she said, and the letters are small. <\/p>\n So Santos de Torres helped Nemorio to the car and made the familiar 7-minute drive to LUPE\u2019s headquarters in the neighboring town of San Juan to ask for help with her husband\u2019s ballot. <\/p>\n This time, though, LUPE workers reluctantly turned the couple away. <\/p>\n In 2021, Texas\u2019 GOP-dominated state Legislature passed a sweeping and controversial overhaul of election laws known as SB1. Among other changes, SB1 made it illegal for anyone to receive compensation for helping voters fill in their ballots.<\/p>\n That not only makes it illegal for paid nonprofit staff to help voters, but also criminalized common past practices, such as organizations giving volunteers gas money or stipends. Violations are a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. <\/p>\n In the wake of the law, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton<\/a>, a Republican currently running in the state\u2019s nationally watched U.S. Senate race, investigated and prosecuted voting rights advocacy groups and organizers in heavily Latino communities across the state.<\/p>\n Groups such as LUPE say they have been forced to alter or stop some voter outreach as they worry about running afoul of the law. LUPE used to send workers out walking blocks to help voters. Now it has to instead ask volunteers to do more limited versions of that work. <\/p>\n Latinos and other non-English speaking voters will be key <\/a>to the outcome of the state\u2019s high-profile U.S. Senate and House races<\/a> this year. But the law<\/a> means such voters, as well as those who are disabled and elderly, have fewer options for help. <\/p>\n LUPE is known for providing one-on-one assistance to people in the Latino community, so the restrictions on helping with voting are a real pain point for the organization, Executive Director Tania Chavez Camacho said. Texas has strict rules limiting who is eligible to use mail ballots, but people over 65 may do so. LUPE helps around 30,000 people a year, she said, including people with disabilities and many older people who, each year, \u201cwant to vote by mail and they come in wanting help.\u201d <\/p>\n Now, Chavez Camacho said, <\/a>when the group holds public town halls for residents to instruct them on how to vote, if a voter pulls out their mail ballot to ask for help, organizers must ask the voter to leave so paid employees aren\u2019t near the ballot. <\/p>\n And if workers for LUPE\u2019s advocacy arm are canvassing for candidates and a voter shows them a mail ballot and asks for help filling it out, workers have been trained to say they can\u2019t and walk away, Chavez Camacho said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe literally have to turn them away,\u201d Chavez Camacho said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had to do a lot of training with our staff for the past three years because they were so accustomed to helping folks one-on-one and now they can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Santos de Torres did what she could to help her husband, who mailed back his ballot about a month ago. <\/p>\n \u201cBut I don\u2019t think it\u2019s right that LUPE can\u2019t help us,\u201d she told a reporter in Spanish. \u201cThat law is not right. It\u2019s excluding people who need help.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cWhat if,\u201d she added, \u201cmy husband didn\u2019t have me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018A person who doesn\u2019t know how to read has to do it on their own\u2019<\/p>\n The Rio Grande Valley, where LUPE is based, covers roughly 4,300-square-miles across Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr, and Willacy counties along the Mexico border at Texas\u2019 southern tip. It\u2019s a diverse community with some residents who primarily speak Spanish. Younger generations of residents easily switch between English and Spanish in conversation. <\/p>\n Many households are made up of families whose members have mixed legal statuses, including some who have lived in the area for generations. The Valley also has a history of activism as the birthplace of the Texas farmworker movement of the 1960\u2019s. Farmworkers \u2013 who harvested cotton, vegetables and fruits \u2014 organized and marched for roughly 400 miles from the Valley to Austin to demand fair wages and better working conditions. Mexican-American farmworker labor today remains key to the area\u2019s growth and agricultural economy. <\/p>\n But due to the lack of affordable housing, Mexican Americans for years purchased land they could afford in rural areas outside of city limits, often lacking basic infrastructure and public services. Those communities are known now as the colonias. <\/p>\n Alamo, where Santos de Torres lives, and San Juan, where LUPE is based, are neighboring cities. The landscape varies depending on the side of town. In the southern parts of the cities, closer to the border with Mexico, modest residential homes with green front lawns adorn along palm tree-lined streets. Shopping centers, chain restaurants, stadiums, and commercial developments lie to the north of the cities, along Interstate Highway 2, reflecting the transition from the once primarily agricultural community to a growing metropolitan hub. The Valley has for years relied on its trade of goods and services with Mexico. It has a population of more than 1.4 million people and 90% of them are Hispanic or Latino, according to Census data. <\/p>\n About 24% of people in the Valley live below the poverty line<\/a>, which is more than double the national rate. And about 30% of Valley residents don\u2019t have health insurance \u2013 one of the highest uninsured rates in the country. The area also has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the country; Nemorio Torres\u2019 blindness is a complication of the disease. <\/p>\n LUPE and other advocacy groups have long worked with residents in the colonias and all over the Valley, providing resources to find affordable housing and medical treatment, or helping with complex procedures such as filing taxes. Voter education and outreach was part of the mission. <\/p>\n Now, instead of providing one-on-one assistance, LUPE hosts group sessions with a screen projector showing what mail ballot applications and mail ballots look like. Facilitators point at the screen indicating what the instructions say and explaining how the forms should be filled out. <\/p>\n The limitations are frustrating, Chavez Camacho said, especially \u201csi una persona no sabe leer\u201d \u2014 if a person can\u2019t read. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter that we\u2019re doing those sessions because a person who doesn\u2019t know how to read has to do it on their own and we can\u2019t help them to know where to mark,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Instead, LUPE\u2019s workers and volunteers now focus on letting people know key deadlines are coming up. They also have fewer volunteers willing to guide and interpret for voters at the polls, she said, because the law now requires such people to sign an oath affirming the voter is qualified to receive help because they are disabled or need an interpreter, and detail their relationship with the voter. They must also affirm they are not being paid by a candidate or political committee, which would be illegal. Volunteers fear any misstep while assisting voters could get them in trouble, Chavez-Camacho said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe really feel that the people are not getting the support they need,\u201d Chavez Camacho said. <\/p>\n Election and voting law experts say the courts have interpreted \u201ccompensation\u201d prohibited from going to volunteers by SB1 as any type of benefit. That interpretation is so broad that it makes it difficult for voter outreach organizations to know whether they are violating the law, said Zachary Dolling, litigation director at Texas Civil Rights Project, which works with groups to design trainings in voter outreach that comply with the law. <\/p>\n Dolling said some organizations historically provided unpaid volunteers dinner, T-shirts, or pens, and others have given volunteers college credit for their work. <\/p>\n \u201cAll of those things are items of value\u201d and could be considered compensation, he said. <\/p>\n Advocates warned state leaders of added burdens for people with disabilities<\/p>\n Texas Republicans passed SB1, the sweeping overhaul of election law, in part responding to false claims and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.<\/p>\n Republicans claimed the law would increase public trust and confidence in the elections. Democrats argued the legislation would disproportionately burden voters of color and people with disabilities, and staged two walkouts and a 15-hour Senate filibuster in their failed attempt to defeat the bill.\n<\/p>\n Despite lawsuits from voting rights organizations including LUPE, the League of United Latin American Citizens and organizations representing Texans with disabilities, a federal appeals court ultimately upheld key provisions of SB1, including the restrictions on voter assistance. <\/p>\n Other attempts to expand voting help for people with disabilities were meanwhile unsuccessful. <\/p>\n In 2023, Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a>, a Republican, vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have expanded vote-by-mail access<\/a> for people with disabilities \u2014 specifically people who are blind or paralyzed and need assistance marking their ballot \u2014 by allowing such voters to request an electronic ballot and use a computer to mark their choices. Similar options in Texas are already available for military overseas voters and astronauts, but not for voters with disabilities.<\/p>\n The challenges Santos de Torres and her husband have faced are an example of what advocates worried about under SB1, said Lydia Nunez Landry, statewide coordinator for REV UP Texas, which works to get out the vote among people with disabilities.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThat was our worst fear and now it\u2019s happening,\u201d she said. Nunez Landry has muscular dystrophy, uses a power wheelchair, and needs help doing basic tasks such as opening the refrigerator.\n<\/p>\n The state has made voting \u201cjust so impossible and so arduous for people \u2014 and now people are also terrified of helping us,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n An increased \u2018sense of anxiety\u2019<\/p>\n Groups across the state have been changing their voter outreach work to comply with SB1. <\/p>\n Asian Texans for Justice conducts voter outreach in Asian communities, focusing on San Antonio, Houston, Austin, and North Texas. <\/p>\n The stricter rules associated with voting by mail under SB1 have created \u201ca sense of anxiety\u201d in those communities, Executive Director Nabila Mansoor said. She said that the process is now much more complicated for elderly voters, who must provide one of two forms of ID on their application and pay close attention to pages of instructions that are written in font that is small and hard for them to read. In addition, an error could force them to restart the whole process of applying for a ballot.<\/p>\n \u201cThat anxiety comes from this kind of fear that they\u2019re going to do something wrong,\u201d Mansoor said. \u201cWhenever you have that kind of fear, it is one more barrier for that person to actually go out and vote.\u201d <\/p>\n Now that Asian Texans for Justice can no longer provide one-on-one help, they\u2019ve turned to providing checklists for voters, she said, which she believes is less effective when some voters may need help reading and understanding the ballot and instructions <\/p>\n Mansoor said she believes that SB1\u2019s goal was to make it harder for people to vote. <\/p>\n \u201cIt means that we have to be more careful. It means that we have to dot our i\u2019s and cross our t\u2019s. It means that we have to take good records. It means that we have to be very thorough in terms of our training of our volunteers,\u201d she said, adding that the organization assembled a legal team to defend against challenges to their work as well.<\/p>\n In the meantime, volunteers for LUPE and other groups say they are doing their best to fill the gap. <\/p>\n Maria Gomez, better known as Do\u00f1a Mary, of Pharr, worked as a farmworker for years in Hidalgo County and has been a member of LUPE since the organization was founded. Gomez, 78, was involved in the farmworker movement years ago. She now ensures her elderly friends and neighbors are aware of election deadlines, know where to vote, and have a ride to the polls if they need one. <\/p>\n After she drops off her grandkids and great-grandkids at school, she makes her rounds around the Colonias in San Juan in her small red SUV. She chats up her neighbors, and asks them what they need help with or if they need resources or a ride. She\u2019s always fielding calls.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t vote because sometimes they can\u2019t leave their home and because they might not have access to that piece of paper that they need to sign to receive their ballot,\u201d Gomez said in Spanish, referring to voter registration forms and ballot-by-mail applications. <\/p>\n One of her friends, 80-year-old Teresa Corona Garza of San Juan, has relied on Gomez for rides to the polls for some time now. Corona Garza struggles to stand for long periods of time and can\u2019t see very well out of her left eye. Even though she qualifies to vote by mail, she prefers to go to the polls in person. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s so much on there you have to fill out, and those letters are small,\u201d Corona Garza said in Spanish. \u201cNo, I prefer to go, quiero ver que mi voto cuenta,\u201d she said \u2013 I want to see that my vote is counted.<\/p>\n The laws have gotten so complicated and strict that Gomez worries state leaders may even try to prevent volunteers like her from providing rides to the polls.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen, if they\u2019re going to keep making this harder for people,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I would like to see people who want to vote to be able to do it.\u201d <\/p>\n Natalia Contreras covers election administration and voting access for Votebeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune. Natalia is based in Corpus Christi. Contact her at ncontreras@votebeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n This article<\/a> first appeared on The Texas Tribune<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Texas politics is a mess. We make it a readable mess.<\/p>\n Sign up for San Antonio Current\u2019s new \u201cTexas Politics This Week\u201d newsletter.<\/p>\n Sign Up for SA Current newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>| Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tVoting rights advocates said they have made \u2018huge preparations\u2019 at the local, state and national level to make sure elections are free and fair.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"Eustorgia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/VB_GabrielVCardenas_02.jpg\")
Eustorgia Santos de Torres, 67, right, helps her husband, Nemorio Torres, 79, get in their home in Alamo on Oct. 18, 2026. Her husband is blind and requires her assistance.<\/p>\n![\"Tania](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/VB_GabrielVCardenas_03.jpg\")
Tania Chavez Camacho, executive director of La Uni\u00f3n del Pueblo Entero, addresses attendees of a poll training in San Juan on Oct. 9, 2026. <\/p>\n![\"Eustorgia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/VB_GabrielVCardenas_04.jpg\")
Eustorgia Santos de Torres with her husband Nemorio Torres at their home in Alamo.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/VB_GabrielVCardenas_05.jpg\")
A San Juan neighborhood on Oct. 23. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/VB_GabrielVCardenas_06.jpg\")
A La Uni\u00f3n del Pueblo Entero mural in San Juan on Oct. 10, 2026.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/VB_GabrielVCardenas_07.jpg\")
A cactus plant in a San Juan home on Oct. 23.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/VB_GabrielVCardenas_08.jpg\")
A bell to call for voting assistance is set up at a polling site on the first day of early voting in Alamo on Oct. 19. Credit: Fashions by Agosto Cuellar photographed by Bryan Rindfuss<\/p>\n![\"As](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/VB_GabrielVCardenas_09.jpg\")
As La Uni\u00f3n del Pueblo Entero members cheer her on, Eustorgia celebrates after voting outside a polling location in Alamo on Oct. 19.<\/p>\n![\"Maria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/VB_GabrielVCardenas_10.jpg\")
Maria Gomez, 78, \u201cDo\u00f1a Mary,\u201d left, and her friend Teresa Corona Garza, 80, talk to each other at Corona\u2019s home in San Juan on Oct. 9. Credit: Courtesy of Damon Wayans Jr.<\/p>\n![\"Maria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/VB_GabrielVCardenas_11.jpg\")
Maria Gomez, 78, walks from a polling site with the children of family and friends in Alamo on Oct. 19, 2026.
Credit: Photo by Alexander Devora<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Civil](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793393183_579_voters.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"Gina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793393183_23_Screenshot-2026-10-15-at-2.36.07-PM.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n![\"19](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Screen-Shot-2026-10-16-at-10.44.48-PM.png\")
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