Ballot dropoff order in effect pending appeal

Gov. Greg Abbott’s order limiting counties to only one mail ballot dropoff location will remain in effect while Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appeals a state judge’s decision to block it, Paxton said Thursday.

State District Judge Tim Sulak’s decision came just days after an appellate court upheld Abbott’s order in a similar case at the federal level. It marked the second time that a judge had at least temporarily blocked Abbott’s order.

“The limitation to a single drop-off location for mail ballots would likely needlessly and unreasonably increase risks of exposure to COVID-19 infections, and needlessly and unreasonably substantially burden potential voters’ constitutionally protected rights to vote, as a consequence of increased travel and delays, among other things,” Sulak wrote.

But Paxton said his appeal in the case means an automatic stay of Sulak’s decision.