Texas appeals court upholds ruling that expands voting by mail during pandemic

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas appeals court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that temporarily expanded mail-in balloting for any voters who fear for their health because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 14th Court of Appeals ruled in a split 2-1 decision that it would let stand a lower court’s decision that fear of contracting the coronavirus made a voter eligible to vote by mail under state law.

The case was originally brought by the Democratic Party of Texas, which is looking to expand the ability of voters to cast ballots during the pandemic. The party hopes to continue gaining ground on Republicans, who have held a lock on Texas politics for decades.

U.S. President Donald Trump won the state by 9 percentage points over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

-snip-

POLITICS MAY 14, 2020 / 5:13 PM / UPDATED 28 MINUTES AGO
Brad Brooks
3 MIN READ


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-texaselection/texas-appeals-court-upholds-ruling-that-expands-voting-by-mail-during-pandemic-idUSKBN22Q3I0

[robertpaulsen]

1. According to electoral-vote.com, Texas is just barely red.

The latest poll has Drumpf ahead by only four points, while the previous two polls had Biden ahead by one point and the other a tie.

https://www.electoral-vote.com/

[LeftInTX]

3. But our state supreme court is red times nine

Every single supreme court justice is a republican and our AG is appealing directly to the sc, just like he did with the illegal cosmetologist...

They're the corrupt gang who ordered the cosmetologist out of out jail...9-0...not one dissent.

[Gothmog]

2. This makes me smile

Elections have consequences. In 2018, we flip control of both of the Courts of Appeals that serve the Houston region (Harris County and the surrounding counties are served by two separate court of appeals). In the past, candidates would win in Harris County but get killed in the surrounding counties. We worked like crazy and elected 5 new judges in each of the 1st and 14th courts of appeals and this is the result. https://www.texastribune.org/2020/05/14/texas-appeals-court-allows-expansion-voting-mail/

A state appeals court upheld a temporary order Thursday from a state district judge that could greatly expand the number of voters who qualify for mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic, rebuffing Attorney General Ken Paxton's effort to have the ruling put on hold while he appeals it.

In a 2-1 split along party lines, a panel of the 14th Court of Appeals of Texas said it would let stand state District Judge Tim Sulak's ruling from last month that susceptibility to the coronavirus counts as a disability under state election law and is a legally valid reason for voters to request absentee ballots. Paxton has been fighting that ruling and had argued that his pending appeal meant the lower court’s ruling was not in effect.

Federal and state courts are considering legal challenges to the state’s rules for voting by mail as Democrats and voting rights groups ask courts to clarify whether lack of immunity to the coronavirus is a valid reason for people to request absentee ballots. Under Sulak's order, voters can request mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic by citing the disability qualification allowed in the Texas election code.

One of the judges on this panel. Jerry Zimmer, is a friend who is active in the Democratic Lawyers Association.

We are likely to lose at the Texas supreme court

[Gothmog]

4. The 14th Court of Appeals has ordered that the lower court's ruling in our vote-by-mail case is sti

Link to tweet

[Javaman]

5. asshole felon paxton can go fuck off. nt