Texas Supreme Court Halts Expansion Of Mail-In Voting
by Rachel SandlerTOPLINE
Lacking immunity to the coronavirus doesn’t qualify Texans for mail-in ballots, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a setback for voting rights advocates as President Donald Trump and Republicans step up their opposition to measures aimed at expanding mail-in voting.
KEY FACTS
The court shot down an argument made by Democrats and civil rights groups that a lack of immunity to the coronavirus counts as a disability and therefore qualifies voters for mail-in ballots under Texas law.
Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton brought the lawsuit in an effort to stop local election officials from processing mail-in ballot applications citing coronavirus risks.
However, the court ruled that the state cannot prevent clerks from approving applications, saying it is confident local officials will comply with the ruling “in good faith.”
The Texas Supreme Court is made up of all Republicans.
Read the full ruling here.
Crucial quote
“We agree with the State that a voter’s lack of immunity to COVID-19, without more, is not a ‘disability’ as defined by the Election Code. But the State acknowledges that election officials have no responsibility to question or investigate a ballot application that is valid on its face,” the opinion reads.
Chief critics
Steve Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas School of Law, noted the hypocrisy of the judges making their ruling remotely because of coronavirus fears.
“The Texas Supreme Court has ruled against those who would like to cast mail-in ballots in order to avoid having to go to crowded, public polling places to exercise their right to vote,” he tweeted. “And it did so remotely.”
Ari Berman, a senior reporter at Mother Jones covering voting rights, said the measure benefits Republicans because voters 65 and older, who tend to vote conservative, can already qualify for a mail-in ballot without any other reason.
News peg
A few other states, including California and Michigan, have moved to expand mail-in voting in order to prevent large crowds casting ballots. The actions have drawn the ire of President Donald Trump, who has taken to Twitter to claim erroneously that mail-in voting leads to vote fraud. One such tweet was fact-checked by Twitter, setting off a firestorm wherein the president threatened to regulate social media companies.
What’s next
A separate federal lawsuit currently before the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is also pending, but the case could make its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.