1/ Texas has seen a head-spinning barrage of voting-related lawsuits in recent months, and the state — particularly Harris County — has become the epicenter of a voting rights battle.

Here is what voters need to know.
2/ In Harris County, Republican leaders and activists have churned out lawsuits, unsubstantiated specters of voter fraud and official state orders in their bid to halt expanded voting access during the pandemic. bit.ly/2J9b7XB
3/ Control of the White House depends on Republican domination of Texas and, in turn, containing a voting surge in Harris County — the nation's third most populous county, which is only solidifying as a Democratic stronghold. bit.ly/3kAegh2
4/ Earlier this month, the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court blocked Harris County from sending mail-in ballot applications to all 2.4 million of its voters after lower courts with Democratic judges ruled in favor of the county’s plan. bit.ly/35EYzic
5/ Unlike other states, Texas hasn’t expanded voting by mail during the pandemic.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected state Democrats' bid to allow all Texas voters to request absentee ballots if they fear catching COVID-19 at crowded polling places. bit.ly/2HzQX8t
6/ In July, Gov. Greg Abbott extended the early voting period by six days.

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled against several GOP officials who sued to keep early voting to a two-week period during the pandemic. bit.ly/3oHzhss
7/ That meant early voting could run from Oct. 13 until Oct. 30 in Texas.

Tomorrow (Oct. 30) is the last day to vote early in Texas.

Polling sites can be found on the Texas secretary of state’s website. teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do
8/ On Oct. 1, Gov. Abbott limited counties to just one location for dropping off absentee ballots, a rebuke to some large, Democratic counties that had set up multiple locations in what officials called an effort to maximize voter convenience. bit.ly/35O8odQ
9/ Gov. Abbott's order was challenged in state and federal court. Lower courts ruled to allow multiple drop-off locations, but a federal appeals court and the Texas Supreme Court reversed the rulings, halting the reopening of additional locations. bit.ly/35LaN9l
10/ In another attempt to expand voting access, Harris County has set up 10 drive-thru polling locations available to all voters.

Last week, the Republican parties of Texas and Harris County tried — and failed — to close the sites. bit.ly/34zinod
11/ A court ruled last week that Texas can keep rejecting mail-in ballots over mismatched signatures without giving voters a chance to appeal.

If you’re voting by mail, make sure the signature on your ballot envelope matches the one on your application. bit.ly/3mpi2u4
12/ The state election code does not establish any standards for signature review, which is conducted by local election officials who seldom have training in signature verification. bit.ly/3mpi2u4
13/ A state appeals court ruled Friday that Texas voters who get sick shortly before Election Day and can't go to the polls will still need a doctor’s note before they can get an emergency absentee ballot, even during the pandemic. bit.ly/2HywzET
14/ If you have COVID-19 — or symptoms — you can request an emergency absentee ballot with a doctor’s note or use curbside voting. For more details about curbside and emergency absentee voting eligibility requirements, contact your local elections office. bit.ly/2TsRWtY
15/15 Check out our voting guide to find out more about polling locations, deadlines and what to expect when voting during the pandemic in Texas.

The last day to vote early is Friday, Oct. 30.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

#tx2020 bit.ly/31VhJ2k

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Texas Tribune

Texas Tribune Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @TexasTribune

30 Oct
Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness never got his Texas absentee ballot that he requested.

Here's how he still voted — and how you can too if you’re in a similar situation. bit.ly/3mHNvYv
.@jvn wrote in an Instagram post last week that his absentee ballot never arrived at the location where he was going to be working on Election Day, even though officials told him it was mailed out on Oct. 8. bit.ly/3mHNvYv
.@jvn went to his local elections office, filled out the paperwork to cancel his ballot, and then took the paperwork to an early voting site. bit.ly/3mHNvYv
Read 10 tweets
30 Oct
Breaking: Texas has already surpassed its 2016 total votes cast with one day of early voting and #ElectionDay still to go.

The state has added 1.8 million more registered voters since 2016. bit.ly/2HNJsLD
Through Thursday, 9,009,850 have voted so far this year. That amounts to 53% of registered voters.

In 2016, 8,969,226 Texans cast a ballot in the presidential race, and overall percentage turnout was 59.4%
By the time all the #ElectionDay votes and mail-in ballots are counted, Texas will likely hit record-breaking turnout levels this election, surpassing 60% of registered voters for the first time since the early 1990s.
Read 5 tweets
28 Oct
1/ El Paso is currently following two national trends:

1. Voter turnout is on pace to surpass 2016’s numbers.

2. And reported cases of COVID-19 are surging to unprecedented numbers.
bit.ly/3mw2dC1
2/ Coronavirus cases have been rising in the city over the past month as city and county officials have announced increased restrictions to help combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.
bit.ly/2TzOFJ7
3/ Last week a UT-Austin report predicted that the El Paso area could run out of hospital beds within weeks.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s office announced the deployment of medical personnel and equipment to help combat the record-breaking surge of COVID-19 cases.bit.ly/3muP7Vx
Read 7 tweets
27 Oct
Breaking: Texas social workers will no longer be allowed to discriminate against LGBTQ Texans and people with disabilities.

A state board voted Tuesday to undo a rule change that had drawn backlash from lawmakers and advocates. bit.ly/2G9nB0s
2/ In early October, the Texas State Board of Social Work Examiners voted unanimously to change a section of its code of conduct, which would allow social workers to turn away clients on the basis of disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.
bit.ly/35GMhpx
3/ The nondiscrimination policy change recommended by Gov. Greg Abbott’s office drew immediate criticism.

The Republican-led Texas Legislature has long opposed expanding nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ Texans in various areas of state law.
Read 5 tweets
23 Oct
New: Lawmakers and advocates are urging Texas regulators to reverse their decision to let social workers turn away clients who are LGBTQ or have a disability. bit.ly/35tdaxd
The social worker regulatory board unanimously voted last week to revise a section of its code of conduct that lays out when a social worker can refuse to serve someone.
The code will no longer prohibit social workers from discriminating on the basis of a disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Read 5 tweets
23 Oct
New: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has sidelined four of the seven senior aides who weeks ago told law enforcement they believed Paxton had committed bribery and abuse of office, firing two and placing two more on leave. bit.ly/37Biph4
The aides, who represented a large share of the agency’s most senior staff, alerted law enforcement and then agency human resources that they believed Paxton was using the power of his office to serve a political donor.
Paxton has dismissed the whistleblowers as “rogue employees” wielding “false allegations.”
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!