Federal lawsuit claims Texas' mail-in ballot procedures are unconstitutional

[Gothmog]

One of the plaintiffs was a national delegate to Philadelphia with me. She is a great lady.

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Texas once again stands accused of violating the U.S. Constitution through its voting laws.

This time the legal challenge comes from the Texas Civil Rights Project on behalf of two Texas voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected after local officials determined the signatures on their ballots were not theirs.

In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in San Antonio, those two voters — George Richardson of Brazos County and Rosalie Weisfeld of McAllen — alleged that the state law that allows “untrained local election officials to arbitrarily and subjectively” reject mail-in ballots based on mismatching signatures violates the Fourteenth Amendment, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Joined by groups that represent Texans with disabilities, veterans and young voters, they are asking a federal judge to either block election officials from rejecting mail-in ballots over signature doubts or require Texas to notify voters about an alleged mismatch in time for them to “cure” their ballot.

[Gothmog]

1. LWV of Texas Sues to Fix Improper Rejection of Mail-in Ballots

This is an important lawsuit in Texas https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/lwv-texas-sues-fix-improper-rejection-mail-ballots?utm_source=PressRelease&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=RichardsonvTX

SAN ANTONIO, TX —Today, the League of Women Voters of Texas, along with individual plaintiffs and partners, filed a complaint against the Texas Secretary of State to resolve the unclear and unfair rules for rejecting mail-in ballots in the state. Richardson v. Texas Secretary of State argues that Texas law fails to provide uniform standards for signature comparison and fails to give voters the ability to cure their ballots if they are marked for rejection.

“Every election, the League assists and educates thousands of voters on the rules around mail-in voting,” said Grace Chimene, president of the League of Women Voters of Texas. “When the rules are unclear, voters lose confidence in the election process. And when voters are also not given a chance to cure their ballots, they effectively lose their right to vote.”

After plaintiff Dr. George Richardson voted by mail in the 2018 election, he received notice that his ballot was not counted due to a signature mismatch. Richardson was informed that the decision to reject his ballot was final, and he was never given an opportunity to provide additional proof that the signature on his ballot was in fact his. Richardson’s experience highlights severe problems in the Texas state code’s rules around mail-in voting.

“Voting by mail is an essential avenue for many citizens to participate in our elections,” said Chris Carson, president of the League of Women Voters of the United States. “Voters who are elderly, disabled, or otherwise unable to vote in person must be allowed to participate with confidence that their votes will be counted.”

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2. Texas Is Illegally Throwing Out Mail-In Ballots, Lawsuit Says

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The state relies “on untrained officials to ‘eye-ball’ a signature, leaving the sacred right to vote up to chance,” said Hani Mirza, a lawyer with the Texas Civil Rights Project who is helping represent the plaintiffs. “It’s time that we modernize this process and ensure that not one single Texan has their ballot thrown out for arbitrary reasons.”

The suit says Texas is violating the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law, by not implementing a uniform, statewide standard for verifying the signatures. It also contends that voters are being denied the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of due process because they do not have a chance to verify their signatures before a ballot is rejected.

The signature verification process violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, the suit argues, because voters with disabilities may not be able to make previous signatures match.

Using a mail-in ballot in Texas is restricted. Only people who are at least 65 years old, or are out of their county during early voting periods and on Election Day, or have a disability, or are in jail but eligible to vote can use such ballots.

The plaintiffs want a federal judge to either block officials from rejecting a mail-in ballot because signatures are ruled not to match or to require the officials to give voters a chance to fix their ballots before the votes are rejected.