We've had lots of questions about what's going on in Harris County, Texas, and I'll be talking about it on today's Nightly Nuance. First, here's what we know as of this morning...
Harris County is Texas's most populous county, and it's quite diverse. It offered voters an opportunity to drive thru polling stations at 10 different locations -- 9 using tents and one, at the Toyota Center, using a parking garage.
Republicans challenged the legality of these locations, and the Texas Supreme Court denied a motion to stop drive-thru voting. One justice dissented saying the locations don't count as polling places under Texas law and impermissibly expand curbside voting.
Drive-thru voting continues and more than 127K people (including lots of our dearly beloved listeners) voted that way. A new group of plaintiffs goes to court to try to void these ballots: GOP Rep. Steve Toth, activist Steve Hotze (who has quite the backstory), and 2 candidates.
Yesterday, the Texas Supreme Court denied their motion (no comments, no dissents). Today, at 10:30, they're getting a hearing in federal court. They say that drive-thru voting is unconstitutional.
Even with everything that's happened recently (and that's a lot of everything), it is unimaginable to me that the day before Election Day a federal district judge, appellate court, or even SCOTUS would invalidate more than 100K ballots.
But we will be watching this develop carefully and keep you posted. Also, MAJOR kudos to @CGHollins @HarrisVotes for making an all out stand for enfranchisement.
Update: federal district judge says these plaintiffs don't have standing. It's certain to be appealed but for now, we're out of the woods ("the woods" being 127k people's votes being voided).
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