Gov. Abbott issues proclamation allowing just one mail-in-ballot drop-off location per county

[Indyfan53]

Source: KXAN Austin

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation Thursday designed to “maintain the integrity of our elections.”

His proclamation states that, beginning Friday, mail ballots delivered in person by eligible vote-by-mail voters must be dropped off to “a single early voting clerk’s office location as publicly designated by the county’s early voting clerk.”

That means people can only drop off ballots at one location in the county they live in. All other drop-off or satellite locations will be closed. Currently, Travis County has four drop-off locations listed:

5501 Airport Blvd., the Travis County Tax Office
Two entrances at the parking garage for the Travis County administrative building at 700 Lavaca St.
The West 11th Street entrance to the parking lot for the Travis County building at 1010 Lavaca St.

According to the proclamation, only one of those locations will be allowed to stay open.

Hays and Williamson counties each have one spot designated for ballot drop-off.

It also requires early voting clerks to allow poll watchers to keep an eye on the location and “observe any activity conducted at the early voting clerk’s office location related to the in-person delivery of a marked mail ballot.”


Read more: https://www.kxan.com/news/us-politics/election/gov-abbott-issues-proclamation-allowing-just-one-mail-in-ballot-drop-off-location-per-county/

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Fucking Abbott!

Lone Star Dems! Mask up and vote!

[enough]

1. It's all out war on the election. NT

[IronLionZion]

2. These assholes think they're going to lose Texas

the polls show it is competitive this year.

[ananda]

17. That's it exactly!

Until now, Reeps here liked mail-in ballots because the seniors
were mostly Reep.

Now it's different.

[efhmc]

3. How is this legal and where is the ACLU?

254 counties in TX. Harris County is most populous in TX with over 4.7 million residents. Harris County is 3rd most populous county in USA, a population larger than 25 states ! Over 1.2 million votes cast in 2016. Limiting drop sites is voter suppression big time.

[TomCADem]

6. What is the ACLU Going to Do With a Conservative Court?

This is why we just have to work to vote and make sure our votes count.

[LogicFirst]

15. Good point

The new SCOTUS will suppress all mail-in voting - forever.

[efhmc]

18. If we do not fight, we will never win.

Lived in Houston for 20 years, not only does it have a huge population it is covers a huge area. Harris County (Houston) has 4.7 million people spread out across 1729 square miles.

[TomCADem]

20. You Fight By Getting Out the Vote and Voting

Repeatedly hoping for someone to fight on our behalf like the ACLU, will mean we never win.

[Dustlawyer]

4. Me and my elderly mom will be early voting in person.

I talked her out of her mail in ballot. We have no trust in the system here in Texas.

[TomCADem]

5. So, Harris County With Over 4 million People Has One Drop-Off The Same as...

...Loving County, which has 169 people. Yup, the Governor is not trying to jam up counties that have large cities at all.

[Mister Ed]

13. Traffic jams in populous counties, impossibly long drives in wide, sparsely-populated counties.

That's the plan, of course.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. "any activity" sounds to me like entering hearsay into the spurious narrative of voter fraud

who are these "watchers"?

[Paladin]

8. Somebody confirm the one Harris Co. drop-off place that fuckface Abbott left us with.

I hear it's the NRG Stadium---but I'd like confirmation of that.

Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick, Steven Hotze: All of you, just eat shit and die. I'll be thinking of you crooked, desperate motherfuckers when I drop off my ballot.

[brush]

9. Open vote suppression. Texas counties are huge, just like the state.

People will have to drive long distances to vote.

[Grins]

10. Texas is famous for "ballot rustlers"...

What is he saying about Texans?

How does this have anything to do with the “integrity” of elections?

[Chakaconcarne]

11. Any rivers or ditches near these populous ballot box locations?

[efhmc]

19. Houston is built on a series of bayous. Plus there is a really big ship channel there.

But I get your drift.

[George II]

12. The biggest county in Texas is about 6,000 sq mis - about 100 mis across and 150 mis north/south...

That means some people have to travel an hour or more to drop off their ballot.

Thankfully there's only 9000 people in that county, and I'd guess most vote republican.

[duforsure]

14. By Abbott doing this now,

He just made it more likely both trump and Cornyn and republicans are toast. Abbott will never win another election again, and this will backfire on them.

[RussBLib]

16. let me guess

drive-up drop-off is probably prohibited.

gotta drive, park, get out of your car, search for the location

just a guess

[LeftInTX]

22. Yes

Gotta walk in and show your ID.

[yellowdogintexas]

29. we are doing drive in drop off in Tarrant County at our County Elections Office

This is where drop off have always been handled. Of course up until this year the only folks who dropped off ballots were the ones who woke up on ELection Day and realized they did not mail the ballot. This year between the USPS issues and COVID folks are very interested in not mailing and not having to go inside.

SO they took them to the office. Up until this year, we could only do this on Election Day. Now we can do this all the way through the Early Voting period and on Election Day.

Elections set up tents which resemble a bank drive through; you pull in, the clerk checks your ID, takes the ballot and you are on your way. It is very efficient. I think there are 5 or 6 of them encircling the building, they are really nice; the tent arrangement keeps evrything dry and away from wind. Voters can drop off ballots during regular business hours until 7 pm Nov 3. There is a great traffic management team out there to keep the line moving.

On October 5, between drive in mail drop and last minute voter registrations, traffic backed up down the street and onto the cross street and was steady all day. The registration drops were a different color and there were maybe 7 of them. The traffic folks managed to get folks to the spot they needed with no issues. The building was supposed to close at 5; stayed open until 10 pm

[LeftInTX]

21. He did this to shut down a lawsuit from the Republican Party

The Republican Party chaired by Allen West was gonna shut down every single drop off during early voting because the Texas law only allows drop off at Election Clerk's office on Election Day. Abbott made an emergency proclamation a few months ago to allow ballots to be dropped off during early voting. Several counties also created satellite locations.

Bexar County, population 2,400,000 only has one site for drop off. Bexar County never created a satellite location.

The odds are: The Republicans were gonna win their lawsuit, now they have one less argument.

[yellowdogintexas]

30. Tarrant, Dallas and El Paso counties did not set up satellites

I begged our Administrator to set up drop boxes and he wrote me back telling me he was stuck with one drop off until the Election Code was rewritten. This was in July right after the runoffs. He sent me a copy of the proclamation Abbot did to move the runoff date. That proclamation also included the extension of early voting days and the extension of the number of days ballots could be dropped off. That proclamation went out in Late March, I think.

SO our elections administrator got his team together and they came up with a plan to make it as easy as possible for voters to drop ballots off. They did a good job.

here is a news link; just suffer through the rap music commercial https://www.wfaa.com/video/news/politics/tarrant-county-residents-show-up-register-vote-drop-mail-ballots/287-ca219be7-d7f8-45f6-8807-708e96326eb5 They ended up staying open until 10 pm

[LeftInTX]

31. Same in Bexar

Our Commissioners court wanted satellite offices, but our elections admin stated she wasn't going to do it because of the Election Code.

[efhmc]

23. Major Texas voting groups have asked a federal judge in Austin to overturn the governor's order,

which forced Travis & Harris counties; two of the state’s most important Democratic strongholds to shutter a number of drop-off sites they had already opened.

[efhmc]

25. New ruling:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/107849040

[Nexus2]

24. How exactly does the maintain the integrity of the election?

[efhmc]

26. It has nothing to do with intergrity and everything to do with suppressing the vote.

[Nexus2]

27. Exactly

Though the reporting I heard purported that were some rational given that its was to 'protect election integrity'.

[raccoon]

28. Gov Abbott deserves to be tarred and feathered.

Such unspeakable ratfuckery.

[Stuart G]

32. I know this sounds rediculous...But in an odd way...This is a good thing for us....

Abbott's executive order shows to all what he is about. Some independents and a few republicans will be totally turned off by this....and some before mentioned, will vote for Joe Biden.......

One drop off place per county is so easy to see through: a ploy to limit voting, that is it and that is all.

...Now, many newspapers and radio and TV stations will see through that, (because I can see through that
one) and Abbott has made a serious mistake that will cause some to vote for our side just because he
tried to limit and stop Texans from voting. Let's see, 3 weeks and some days away from the election.
So the publicity and discussion about this, has plenty of time to get larger and larger...

....It has nothing to do with ..."integrity"...and everything to keep certain people (us) from voting..
I guess Abbott is just about as stupid as "Trump"...perhaps the orders came from Trump. If that gets
out and is true, then Texas this one time will vote for the Democratic Candidate, Joe Biden...