GOP suit againstabbott is awaste of everyone’s time
No matter howmany times I read Gov. Greg Abbott’s July 27 proclamation, I can’t find anything controversial in it.
Mindful of the fact that the best way to protect the health of voters while we grapple with the stealthmenace of the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor extended the early voting period for this year’s general election by six days.
He also helped mail voters who might want to personally drop off their ballots at an early voting clerk’s office. Under the Texas Election Code, voters can drop off a mail ballot only on Election Day, but Abbott enabled them to also do so during the early voting period.
“It is necessary to increase the number of days in which polling locations will be open during the early voting period, such that election officials can implement appropriate social distancing and safe hygiene practices,” Abbott said.
This statement was about as provocative as saying water is wet or illness is bad.
It should be in the interest of everyone in this state, during this unprecedented election cycle, to make the voting process as safe and efficient as possible.
Who could object to an emergencymeasure that does nothing to tamper with the integrity of the voting process, but simply reduces the health risks for poll workers and voters who want to voice their choice?
Well, several of Abbott’s fellow Republicans objected enough to file a petitionwednesday with the Texas Supreme Court challenging the governor’s proclamation.
This group includes Allen West, the state’s Republican Party chair, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and six GOP state lawmakers:
Sens. Charles Perry and Pat Fallon and Reps. Bill Zedler, Cecil Bell Jr., Steve Toth and Dan Flynn.
Donna Campbell, whose state Senate district includes North San Antonio, initially was listed as one of the plaintiffs, but she sent a terse letterwednesday to attorney Jaredwoodfill, demanding that her name be withdrawn.
On the surface, this lawsuit is about the election. But it’s really about resentment within the hard-core conservative base of the Texas GOP about Abbott’s handling of the pandemic.
While Democrats blame Abbott formoving too slowly on imposing a statewidemask mandate and moving too quickly on a phased reopening of businesses, some of the governor’s fellow Republicans have the opposite perspective. They believe Abbott has used COVID-19 as an excuse to curb personal liberties.
“Given the extraordinary circumstances Texans have faced over the past sevenmonths,” the court filing states, “it is shocking that Gov. Abbott has continued to
unilaterally suspend laws while refusing to convene the Texas Legislature.”
The petitionmakes the case that if constitutional rights can be restricted “whenever a governor ‘declares’ an emergency, then such rights are wholly illusory.”
Abbott has based his actions on a Texas law that empowers the governor to declare a state of disaster.
The current lawsuit argues, however, that the disaster law does not “contain any language expressly allowing Gov. Abbott to amend the Texas Election Code.”
These are debatable legal nuances. What should not be debatable, however, is the fact that this lawsuit is a pathetic waste of everyone’s time, an effort to disrupt an already stress-filled voting process that is set to begin in less than three weeks.
What great satisfaction can any of these conservative warhorses derive from succeeding in this court fight? If they win, will they pop their champagne corks at the thought of Texas voters having six fewer days to vote during a pandemic?