Bid limiting ballot drop-off sites blocked

A federal judge late Friday temporarily blocked Gov. Greg Abbott's order limiting mail ballot drop-off sites to one per county.

Austin District Judge Robert Pitman said Abbott's Oct. 1 proclamation came too late, after officials already started mailing absentee ballots and some, like Harris and Travis counties, had planned for multiple dropoff sites.

Abbott had said he made the decision to protect against voter fraud, though he offered no evidence and experts have said it is highly unlikely. Harris and Travis counties had opted to open additional sites to make voting more convenient and safe amid the pandemic.

In the 46-page order, Pitman cited Supreme Court precedent that says election law should not be changed too near an election to eliminate voter confusion and complications for election officials.

“Even without declaratory evidence, it is apparent that closing ballot return centers at the last minute would cause confusion, especially when those centers were deemed safe, authorized, and, in fact, advertised as a convenient option just months ago,” Pitman wrote.

The ruling will allow Harris County to reopen 11 mail ballot drop-off sites, and Travis County to reopen three.

The option was not heavily utilized during the July primary runoff when just 0.2 percent of 85,922 absentee voters made use of it. Demand could increase considering the ramping up of mail-in voting that election officials have reported.

Harris County election officials and the Attorney General's Office, which represents state agencies, were not immediately available for comment.

Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir said Friday that she was “grateful the court recognized what was best for voters.”

In his order Friday, Pitman wrote that any confusion involved in reinstating the dropoff sites would be “outweighed by the increase in voting access.”

He agreed with the plaintiffs in the case — several civil rights groups as well as individual plaintiffs — who had argued that reducing the number of sites would put older and disabled voters, who already face higher odds of serious complications if they contract COVID-19, at higher risk. It would mean they'd have to travel longer distances to more crowded dropoff sites.

The order also would violate the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause by discriminating against voters based on where they live.

The judge rejected arguments by the state over fraud, saying they did not provide “any credible evidence” that the risk of voter fraud was greater than the burden on voting rights from reduced locations.

The Texas Democratic Party celebrated what they called a ruling against voter suppression in a statement Friday night.

League of United Latin American Citizens National President Domingo Garcia, whose organization was one of the plaintiffs, also applauded the ruling.

“Voter suppression is evil and a blight on democracy,” Garcia said. “LULAC stands firm in defending every person's right to vote.”