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Texas appeals court allows expansion of voting by mail during ongoing legal fight
Elections have consequences. In 2018, we flip control of both of the Courts of Appeals that serve the Houston region (Harris County and the surrounding counties are served by two separate court of appeals). In the past, candidates would win in Harris County but get killed in the surrounding counties. We worked like crazy and elected 5 new judges in each of the 1st and 14th courts of appeals and this is the result. https://www.texastribune.org/2020/05/14/texas-appeals-court-allows-expansion-voting-mail/
A state appeals court upheld a temporary order Thursday from a state district judge that could greatly expand the number of voters who qualify for mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic, rebuffing Attorney General Ken Paxton's effort to have the ruling put on hold while he appeals it.
In a 2-1 split along party lines, a panel of the 14th Court of Appeals of Texas said it would let stand state District Judge Tim Sulak's ruling from last month that susceptibility to the coronavirus counts as a disability under state election law and is a legally valid reason for voters to request absentee ballots. Paxton has been fighting that ruling and had argued that his pending appeal meant the lower court’s ruling was not in effect.
Federal and state courts are considering legal challenges to the state’s rules for voting by mail as Democrats and voting rights groups ask courts to clarify whether lack of immunity to the coronavirus is a valid reason for people to request absentee ballots. Under Sulak's order, voters can request mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic by citing the disability qualification allowed in the Texas election code.
In a 2-1 split along party lines, a panel of the 14th Court of Appeals of Texas said it would let stand state District Judge Tim Sulak's ruling from last month that susceptibility to the coronavirus counts as a disability under state election law and is a legally valid reason for voters to request absentee ballots. Paxton has been fighting that ruling and had argued that his pending appeal meant the lower court’s ruling was not in effect.
Federal and state courts are considering legal challenges to the state’s rules for voting by mail as Democrats and voting rights groups ask courts to clarify whether lack of immunity to the coronavirus is a valid reason for people to request absentee ballots. Under Sulak's order, voters can request mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic by citing the disability qualification allowed in the Texas election code.
One of the judges on this panel. Jerry Zimmer, is a friend who is active in the Democratic Lawyers Association.
We are likely to lose at the Texas supreme court
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