The Guardian: Judge dismisses Republican effort to invalidate Texas drive-through ballots

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a Republican-led petition to throw out 127,000 ballots cast at drive-through voting sites in Harris county, Texas. The case was the latest in a string of attempts by the party to cast doubt over the validity of drive-through and mail-in voting in the state’s most populous county; last week, the Texas supreme court rejected a similar case from the same plaintiffs.

US district judge Andrew Hanen rejected the request to have ballots thrown out, but argued that a higher court could very well agree with the plaintiffs, who said that the tents used for drive-through voting do not qualify as a permanent structure, as mandated by the Texas election code. By Monday evening, the plaintiffs – three Republicans running for office and a conservative activist – had already appealed the decision, according to county officials.

The fight over drive-through voting in Harris county, an increasingly diverse and Democratic-leaning region that could play a crucial role in flipping the state, has thrown it into the national spotlight during a tight presidential race. Lina Hidalgo, the top elected county official in Harris county, told the Guardian that the plaintiffs “see the writing on the wall, that the electorate is changing in Texas and in Harris county, and they’re terrified”. …

And even though the court upheld drive-through voting, the confusion over the issue itself could disenfranchise voters, said Anthony Gutierrez – the executive director of Common Cause, a non-partisan organization dedicated to upholding democracy. He added that these challenges to voter accessibility can be successful in turning away new voters, even if the case is ultimately rejected.

“It’s super clear they want any new people to not be voting in Texas,” Gutierrez said. “A lot of people don’t understand which IDs they need or what the requirements are for vote-by-mail or curbside, it can just be confusing enough that they opt out and decide it seems like a lot of trouble.”