Texas election workers provide practical and emotional support to confused voters

Inside a call center in a downtown Houston building, a team of election workers sits across from each other in rows of sparsely decorated grey cubicles. It's one week before the first statewide election since Texas enacted sweeping changes to its voting laws, and things are hectic.

"The phone is ringing back to back to back pretty much with concerned voters wanting to know where their ballots are and what's the status on their applications," said Angela Washington, a call center clerk.

In January alone, Washington and the 14 other workers in the call center received 8,000 calls from people who wanted help navigating the voting process.

Thousands of rejected mail-in ballots prior to the March 1 primaryleft some voters unsure how and whether they will be able to participate, including many people with disabilities and senior