AUSTIN, TX — Calling the move to promote mail-in voting amid the spread of the new as an “unlawful expansion,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sought on Monday to prevent the practice ahead of the November election.
To that end, Paxton filed a brief with the Court of Appeals for the Fourteenth Judicial District in Houston, a move he described as one “…defending the Texas Election Code requirements for submitting a mail-in ballot.”
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Paxton’s brief follows an appeal filed last month, which automatically stayed a Travis County District Court order he said misconstrued the Election Code “…to allow anyone to vote by mail using specific protections intended to aid only those with true disabilities.”
Voting rights advocates have been pushing for expansion of mail-in voting at a time when people are adhering to physical distancing guidelines to help mitigate the potential spread of illness. Also on Monday, a coalition of voters and civil rights groups filed further litigation to secure the right to cast ballots with mail-in votes, adding to a slew of lawsuits toward that goal, as the Texas Tribune reported.
Those pushing for expanded mail-in voting argue that existing rules could potentially deprive voters of their constitutional rights amid the ongoing public health crisis, as the Texas Tribune noted in its report. In a federal lawsuit filed in San Antonio, for example, Texas voters with medical conditions, Voto Latino, the NAACP-Texas and the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans argue that existing absentee voting rules will place undue burdens on the right to vote or risk disenfranchising Texans during the pandemic, the news outlet reported.
Paxton sees the option decidedly differently, saying the use of mail-in voting is ripe for voter fraud: “The integrity of our election process must be maintained, and the law established by our Legislature must be followed consistently. Unlawful expansion of mail-in voting, which is a special protection made available to Texans with actual disabilities, will only serve to undermine the security of our elections and to facilitate fraud,” Paxton wrote. “Fear of contracting COVID-19 does not amount to a sickness or physical condition as required by state law. My office will continue to defend Texas’s election laws to ensure that our elections remain free, fair and safe.”
Read a copy of Paxton’s bried by clicking here.