Houston Drive-Thru Votes Will Count: Federal Judge Rejects GOP Effort To Toss Out 127K Votes
HOUSTON (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — A federal judge on Monday, Nov. 2, rejected a Republican effort to invalidate nearly 127,000 votes in Houston because the ballots were cast at drive-thru polling centers established during the pandemic.
The lawsuit was brought by conservative Texas activists who have railed against expanded voting access in Harris County, where a record 1.4 million early votes were cast.
The county is the nation's third largest and a crucial battleground in Texas, where President Donald Trump and Republicans are bracing for the closest election in decades on Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen's decision to hear arguments on the brink of Election Day drew concern from voting rights activists, and came after the Texas Supreme Court rejected a nearly identical challenge over the weekend.
The ruling came in response to a lawsuit by conservative GOP activists who have filed a battery of court challenges over moves to expand voting options during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The challenges have not involved Trump's campaign.
Another 20,000 or more voters were expected to use drive-thru polling locations Tuesday, said Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins, the county's top elections official.
Several voters who already used the drive-thru centers rushed to join mounting opposition to the lawsuit, including a Houston attorney whose wife was 35 weeks pregnant when she cast her ballot.
She gave birth to twins Friday.
"My vote counts," David Hobbs said. "My wife's vote counts."
Trump won Texas by nine points in 2016, but polls have shown Democrat Joe Biden still within reach in America's biggest red state.
Democrats also need to flip only nine seats to reclaim a majority in the Texas House for the first time in 20 years, and have aggressively targeted several races in Harris County.
Harris County offered 10 drive-thru locations as an option for its nearly 5 million residents amid worries of spreading the coronavirus.
Jared Woodfill, a former chairman of the Harris County GOP, argued that Texas election law makes no explicit allowances for drive-thru voting and framed it is as an unlawful expansion of curbside voting, which is legal in Texas but limited to people who are unable to enter polling places because of their health.
Portions of the hearing were consumed by debate over what exactly qualified as a legal structure for a polling place under Texas law.
"You have a fundamental right to vote in a car?" Hanen tersely asked an attorney for the ACLU.
Woodfill's lawsuit noted that all but one of the drive-thru centers were set up "in Democrat areas of the county." More than 40% of Harris County residents are Latino, and about one in five residents are Black.
The lawsuit drew objections even from Republicans, include former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who is facing the toughest reelection battle of his career Tuesday against Democrat MJ Hegar, also said during a weekend campaign stop that the Texas Supreme Court made the right decision earlier in rejecting an identical challenge.
In response to the judge's decision, Biden for President Texas State Director Rebecca Acuña released the following statement:
"Today is a victory for Texas voters and the more than 120,000 Texans who followed the rules, made a plan to drive-in vote, and exercised their constitutional right. Make no mistake: this is not a partisan victory. This is a victory for voters across the country who are exercising their constitutional right to make their voices heard.
"And, Texans who haven't yet voted can still exercise their right to vote by visiting mytexasvotes.com to find their nearest polling location and cast their ballot on election day."
The League of Women voters released the following statement:
"Today's decision was absolutely necessary to reestablish some confidence in the preservation of our voting rights. This is a win for Texas voters and a win for democracy!" said Grace Chimene, president of the League of Women Voters of Texas. "Every Harris County voter who cast their ballot at a drive-thru polling site can rest assured that their votes are valid and will be counted. Today, the Court protected our country's commitment to 'one person, one vote.' We are encouraged by the incredible early voter turnout in Texas, and today's decision ensures that more than 120,000 Harris County voters will be included in that number."
The Texas Supreme Court, which is controlled entirely by Republicans, rejected an identical lawsuit last month and on Sunday refused to invalidate the votes already cast. The state's highest court did not explain its decision.
Hollins had asked Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to affirm that the drive-thru locations are legal but received no response.
Texas is one of just five states that did not allow for widespread mail-in voting this year during the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 18,000 people statewide. Abbott instead expanded early voting by one week, and that extra time helped Texas already surpass 2016's total votes even before Tuesday's election.
More than 9.7 million people have cast early ballots in Texas, where turnout typically ranks among the lowest in the country.
Some elections experts predict that total turnout in Texas could surpass 12 million, and Harris County officials have taken more steps than most to expand voting access.
The county tripled the number of polling places and last week had eight locations that stayed open for 24 hours.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
MORE FROM CBSDFW
-
- 2 East Texas Children Missing After Being Ordered Into Family And Protective Services Custody, May Be In Dallas Area
- With 'Passions Running High' Dallas County Political Party Leaders Make Bi-Partisan Statement On Election
- North Texas Great-Grandmother Comes 'Back To Life' After Social Security Administration Declared Her Dead
