Fox News: Texas governor faces third lawsuit over limit on mail ballot drop-off sites

Fox News: Texas governor faces third lawsuit over limit on mail ballot drop-off sites

Anthony Gutierrez, the executive director of Common Cause Texas, said that "many" of the voters affected by the rule change rely on public transportation. “Many of the Texans who qualify to vote absentee have disabilities and are elderly, and they rely on public transportation,” Gutierrez said in a statement. “With only one drop-off site per county, these voters would face challenges in travel that might make it impossible for them to vote. The drop-off site limit will also make the one site in each country prone to lines and crowds, endangering voters’ health.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s new order that limits ballot drop-off locations in each county is facing a third legal challenge.

On Monday, the Anti-Defamation League’s Central Division, which includes Texas, filed a lawsuit in Travis County court alleging that Abbott’s order exceeds his authority under the state’s constitution and “imposes an unconstitutional right on voters’ right to vote,” particularly in geographically large areas.

Abbott, a Republican, announced last week that each county could have a maximum of one drop-off site for absentee ballots during the early-voting period that starts Oct. 13.

The plaintiffs called the order a “bait-and-switch” and argued the “eleventh hour” change less than one month before the Nov. 3 election “dramatically changes the applicable rules.”

“It is consistent, however, with a broader effort by the State to make it more difficult for elderly, sick, and disabled Texans to cast ballots by mail,” the lawsuit alleges.

“The Proclamation forces voters eligible to vote by mail to choose between risking their health by voting in-person so that they have more assurance that their ballots will count, or protecting their health by attempting to vote by mail and risking the real possibility that their ballots will not count because of [U.S. Postal Service] delays,” it continued.

Texas allows voters to cast an absentee ballot if they are over the age 65, have an illness or disability, will be out of the country for early voting or Election Day, or are in jail but otherwise eligible to vote.

Anthony Gutierrez, the executive director of Common Cause Texas, said that “many” of the voters affected by the rule change rely on public transportation.

“Many of the Texans who qualify to vote absentee have disabilities and are elderly, and they rely on public transportation,” Gutierrez said in a statement. “With only one drop-off site per county, these voters would face challenges in travel that might make it impossible for them to vote. The drop-off site limit will also make the one site in each country prone to lines and crowds, endangering voters’ health.”