UPDATE: Texas counties are now temporarily blocked from setting up multiple drop-off locations for absentee ballots after top Texas officials moved to halt a federal judge's Friday ruling that said counties could have multiple drop-off locations. bit.ly/3deLKPh
This sets up a likely last-minute legal battle over absentee voting in Texas as mail-in ballots are already being collected and early voting is set to begin Tuesday.
It began with an order from Gov. Greg Abbott that sought to limit counties to just one absentee ballot drop-off location.
Voting rights groups called it an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote that will disproportionately impact voters of color in Texas' biggest cities.
Abbott claimed the limits on drop-off locations were necessary to ensure election integrity, even though he provided no evidence that the drop-off sites enable voter fraud, and Texas voters must present an approved form of identification to deliver their mail-in ballots.
With early voting and Election Day rapidly approaching, voting rights groups say Texas’ last-minute changes to the voting process have created confusion and reflect state officials’ hostility toward voting accessibility. bit.ly/3iPm7Wq
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1/ Almost half of Texas voters — 47% — said the Senate should vote on President Trump’s appointee to the Supreme Court, while 41% said the Senate should only vote if Trump wins in November, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. bit.ly/33OHVwY
2/ In September, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — the legal force behind many of the successes of the women's movement — died due to complications from cancer, resulting in a long-anticipated fight over filling the Supreme Court vacancy. bit.ly/3iP7Pov
3/ Just days after Ginsburg’s death, Sen. Ted Cruz blocked a U.S. Senate resolution that noted her dying wish that a successor not be chosen until after the presidential inauguration.
"Members of the judiciary do not appoint their own successors." bit.ly/30ZCHga
The Denton County sheriff’s office and Attorney General Ken Paxton have announced the arrest of a Carrollton mayoral candidate who allegedly forged voting registration applications and had mail-in ballots sent to a post office box. bit.ly/34yCWzI
The arrest is the second incident in recent weeks in which Paxton’s office has partnered with local officials to investigate suspected voter fraud. Paxton has fought efforts to expand mail-in balloting during the coronavirus pandemic. bit.ly/3nvlYLh
It is unclear how many actual ballots were involved in the Carrollton case, and the statements do not indicate whether any ballots were actually cast.
1/ Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing accusations of criminal wrongdoing.
This is not the first controversy Paxton has faced. But this time, the accusations are coming from inside the state agency he leads. Here’s what you need to know.
2/ First reported by the @statesman and @KVUE on Saturday, seven senior aides told law enforcement they believe Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton may have committed crimes including bribery and abuse of office.
3/ Ken Paxton, a Republican, has served as the attorney general of Texas since 2015.
Five years ago he was indicted on felony charges of securities fraud, but he has yet to go to trial due to several side battles over procedural issues. bit.ly/34z2o8b
Breaking: The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that early voting in Texas can begin Oct. 13, following the timeline that Gov. Greg Abbott laid out months ago. bit.ly/36GA5re
In July, Abbott ordered that early voting begin nearly a week earlier than usual, a response to the pandemic.
But a number of prominent Republicans asked the Texas Supreme Court to limit in-person and absentee voting options for Harris County voters. bit.ly/2GLZnck
The state’s highest civil court, which is entirely held by Republicans, ruled that the Republican officials who sued waited until the last minute to do so.
Breaking: The all-Republican Texas Supreme Court ruled that Harris County, the state’s most populous county and an important Democratic stronghold, can't send out applications for mail-in ballots to all of its registered voters. bit.ly/30ItubV
Texas sued in August to block County Clerk Chris Hollins from mailing the applications, arguing that doing so exceeded his legal authority and would cause confusion among voters, some of whom aren't eligible for mail-in ballots under Texas’ unusually strict criteria.
But Hollins argued that the planned mailers gave clear guidance on eligibility, and that encouraging absentee ballots where appropriate was integral to holding a safe election during the pandemic. bit.ly/3iFKXI0