Voting a straight ticket in Texas is OK again

Just a little over two weeks before the start of early voting, a U.S. district judge in Laredo ruled Friday to reinstate straight-ticket voting in Texas, sending local officials scrambling ahead of what’s expected to be an election with record-high turnout.

Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo wrote that she made the decision with the pandemic in mind. Officials across the state have warned that a long ballot would cause voters to take 15 minutes or more to make their picks, extending wait times because of the lack of a straight-ticket option, which allows voters to select candidates of one party across all races.

This was to be the year that option ceased to be offered to Texas voters under a 2017 state law.

“By creating mass lines at the polls and increasing the amount of time voters are exposed to COVID-19, HB 25 will cause irreparable injury to plaintiffs andALLTexas voters in the general election,” wrote Marmolejo, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2011.

The suit was brought by the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans, the national senatorial and congressional committees of the Democratic Party, and Sylvia Bruni, chair of the Webb County Democratic Party.

Marmolejo sided with the plaintiffs, who argued that time constraints caused by lack of straightticket voting would illegally impede Texans’ right to vote and dis

proportionately affect African American and Hispanic voters, who tend to use the method more than nonminority voters.

Uponhearingnews of the ruling late Friday, Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen said she was “speechless.”

“For us right now to have to stop what we’re doing and reprogram and retest, and with the early start of early voting — oh my God,” Callanen said. “It’s unbelievable. I can’t say wewon’t do it, but it’s going to take everything in us, and we’re going to have to throw as many people at it as we can.”

She added that even just adding three Green Party candidates to the ballot, per a court ruling earlier this month, caused a one-week delay in preparation plans.

Marmolejo said her injunction related only to in-person voting, not mail-in voting. But if Bexar Countywere to have to reprint ballots and mail them out, it could add at least a week of work.

The office already has been working seven days a week to prepare for the Oct. 13 start of early voting, Callanen said. Gov. Greg Abbott pushed forward the start date of the early voting period by a week to create a safer voting environment during the pandemic, though that decision is being challenged at the Texas Supreme Court in a pending case.

Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office, which represents state agencies, did not respond to a request for comment.

The state, which has fought aggressively against and successfully warded off multiple lawsuits by Democrats this year attempting to overturn voting restrictions, is likely to seek emergency relief from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The 5th Circuit is considered one of the most conservative federal appellate courts in the nation.

Joseph R. Fishkin, a University of Texas lawprofessor who studies election law, said the 5th Circuit could intervene on an emergency basis but that it’s hard to say whether it would and how long such an appeal might take.

Fishkin said the 5th Circuit, if it intervenes, is likely to reference the “Purcell principle,” a Supreme

Court precedent stating that courts should not change election rules too close to an election to avoid voter confusion and election administration problems.

The irony is that, Fishkin said, “as you keep fighting about it, the election only gets closer.” He added that last-minute rulings with profound effects on upcoming elections are becoming more common nationwide as Democrats and Republicans clash over issues of voter access.

Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa applauded the decision by the district court Friday.

“Time and time again, Republican leadership has tried to make it harder to vote, and time and time again, federal courts strike it down,” Hinojosa said in a statement. “Texas Democrats will have to continue to win at the ballot box to protect the right to vote.”

Friday’s decision is a180-degree turn for Marmolejo, who had tossed out a similar case in June, calling the arguments by plaintiffs “speculative.” But she said Friday that “several developments have since bolstered plaintiffs’ arguments,” citing the number of confirmed virus infections at 7 million and deaths at over 200,000 nationwide. That alone warranted a rehearing, she said.

Texas’ primary runoff elections in July provided a window into some of the possible problems that can be expected in November, such as a lack of poll workers and fewer polling places available. The state has “done little” to address those concerns since, Marmolejo said.

In the ruling, she acknowledged the burden that the decision may put on election officials. But she said the potential for harm to voting rights outweighed any resulting “inconveniences.”

House Bill 25, passed in 2017 on mostly partisan lines and favored by Republicans, put Texas in line with the majority of states that do not offer straight-ticket voting

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, RHouston, said he has no doubt that when the case goes to the 5th Circuit, the straight-ticket law will be upheld. The 5th Circuit has ahistory of upholding Texas election laws, he said, and he expects nothing different in this case.