GOP’S drive-thru voting lawsuit tossed

A Houston appeals court on Wednesday dismissed the Texas Republican Party’s lawsuit seeking to limit curbside and drivethru voting in Harris County.

The party failed to demonstrate the county clerk’s use of curbside voting would harm the party in a way that is distinct from the rest of the general public, Justices Charles Spain, Meagan Hassan and Meg Poissant wrote in an opinion. They also noted that the election already is underway, writing that the party “offered no justification for their delay” until the eve of early voting to file a petition for a writ of mandamus.

“Because relators have not shown that they have standing to seek mandamus relief under Election Code section 273.061, this court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction,” the justices wrote in conclusion. “Additionally, because the election is currently in progress and the relators delayed filing this mandamus until over a month after learning of the actions of the Harris County Clerk’s Office, mandamus relief is not available.”

The Texas Republican Party filed the lawsuit late Monday, arguing that drive-through voting was an unlawful expansion of curbside voting.

The same panel of justices, all of whom are Democrats, sided with Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins last month in upholding a lower court ruling to allow the clerk to send mail ballot applications to every registered voter in the county. The Texas Supreme Court later overturned the ruling.

Assistant County Attorney Douglas Ray said Tuesday that county officials are comfortable with the legality of drive-thru voting because they do not consider it to be a form of curbside voting.