Sinclair Broadcasting/WJLA-TV (Washington DC): ‘Ballot security’ or voter suppression? Battle brews over Texas governor’s order

WASHINGTON (SBG) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is defending his order limiting the use of drop-off locations for absentee ballots in November’s election as a necessary security measure, but voting rights groups and election experts say his justification for the restriction is fundamentally flawed.

In a proclamation last Thursday, Abbott declared that ballots could only be dropped off at one early voting clerk’s office location per county and poll watchers must be allowed to observe any activity related to the delivery of ballots. Several large counties had planned to use multiple drop-off points, but Abbott suggested those plans would have threatened election integrity. …

“This is blatant voter suppression and yet another way the politicians in charge are putting barriers between Texans and the ballot box,” said Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of Common Cause Texas. “With last-minute changes and pending litigation, it is increasingly clear that confusion in Texas elections is part of a pattern of voter suppression.”