How Texas Has Taken Its Fight Against Pandemic Absentee Voting To The Next Level
By Tierney Sneed
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May 20, 2020 6:00 a.m.
Everything is bigger in Texas — including the lengths to which the state will go to limit absentee voting in the pandemic.
When requesting an absentee ballot, voters in many states have to list a reason why they cannot cast their vote in person. A handful of those states have resisted letting voters invoke the coronavirus outbreak to cast ballots by mail. But among that handful, Texas has taken its resistance to the next level.
The state is embroiled in a nasty legal battle over whether COVID-19 qualifies as an absentee voting excuse under state law. As the court fight rages on, Texas state officials have repeatedly raised the prospect of criminal sanctions for anyone who advises voters that they can vote absentee due to the pandemic. While lower courts have backed the idea that COVID-19 counts as an absentee voting excuse, the process for getting the question in front of the state Supreme Court has been turbo-charged.
On Tuesday night, a federal court ordered the state to allow voters to vote absentee if they’re seeking to avoid the virus. The order, which will be appealed, came the day before the state Supreme Court was scheduled to hear arguments on certain aspects of the dispute.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/texas-absentee-voting-pandemic-legal-fight
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Once the state Supreme Court has its say on who can vote absentee because of the pandemic, the fight will continue in the federal court, where the state will appeal the Tuesday order.
Texas is also facing a federal lawsuit targeting exactly how it carries out absentee voting, including its lack of paid postage and its ban on certain ballot collection programs.
Expect those fights to be as contentious as the one over the “disability” exemption.
“If this small step is being fought so aggressively, we’re in for a very bumpy ride in Texas,” Weiser said.
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