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A lawsuit to stop curbside voting in Harris County and invalidate hundreds of thousands of ballots from Texas voters has been rejected by a federal judge in a late-night ruling Monday.
The lawsuit, filed by a group of Texas Republicans, argues Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins violates state election code by allowing drive-thru ballot drop-off options for Texas voters. The complaint sought to invalidate the ballots collected this way.
Harris County is the third largest in the U.S. and includes most of Houston.
Monday night’s ruling by Judge Andrew Hanen follows a decision from the Texas Supreme Court Sunday denying the move to invalidate those ballots.
By the time the lawsuit was filed, more than 127,000 Texas voters had cast a ballot at one of these curbside polling stations, according to a CNN report.
The ruling leaves Texas voters in the Houston area with only one drive-thru option on Election Day.
During the hearing Monday night, Judge Hanen weighed the fact that nearly 10% of Texas voters had already dropped off a ballot this way, according to a CNN report.
“A lot of people would say, ‘Gee, if I had known there was a question about voting drive-in, I would have parked my car and walked to the polls,’” Judge Hanen said.
Judge Hanen stated in his ruling that the plaintiffs don’t have standing in their argument because they failed to establish specific injury, which is required if seeking such claims.
The plaintiffs, who include Republican Texas legislator Rep. Steve Toth and Congressional candidate Wendell Champion, argued in their initial complaint that the state’s legislature enacts changes in how Texas voters cast ballots, not the state’s counties.
In the complaint, the plaintiffs argue Hollins had enough in-person polling places set up to be sufficient and didn’t require drive-thru options for Texas voters. Judge Hanen agreed, which led him to only allow drive-thru voting at one location.
“The Toyota Center DTV site fits the Judge’s definition of a ‘building’ it is ‘a structure with walls and a roof’ and ‘a permanent structure.’ It is thus unquestionably a suitable location for Election Day voting,” Hollins said in a tweet Tuesday.
Defendants pushed back, asserting the move to curbside voting is a safe and legal way to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
“This lawsuit was shameful and it should have never seen the light of day,” Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa told CNN.
By Sunday, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas entered the fight by filing a lawsuit on behalf of several Texas voters who dropped their ballots off at the curb.
“It appears to be an attempt to undermine a true and accurate vote count and improperly influence the outcome of the election,” ACLU Voting Rights deputy director Sophia Lin Lakin said in a statement.
Democrats widely celebrated Monday’s ruling. Joe Biden’s campaign staff called it a “victory for Texas voters.”
The battle over these Texas voters’ ballots and the way they’re casted isn’t over. The plaintiff’s attorney in the lawsuit, Jared Woodfill, told CNBC the ruling would “be appealed immediately.”
The judge’s ruling filed Monday accounted for anticipated future moves by the plaintiffs and includes an order to maintain records of the ballots.
“I would not vote in a drive thru out of my concern whether that’s legal or not,” Judge Hanen said during the hearing, according to CNN.
Counsel for the plaintiffs told CNBC this case is “ground zero” for the Republicans and the national race for president.
“If Harris County goes against Trump in large enough numbers, then we could lose Texas,” he said, adding further that the plaintiffs goal is not to get the ballots invalidated but to get them counted correctly.
More than 9 million Texas voters have already cast their ballots as of the Saturday before the election, setting a turnout record for the state.
Are you a Texas voter who has dropped off a ballot using a drive-thru drop box? Let us know in the comments below.
Counsel representing the plaintiffs in this lawsuit is Jared R. Woodfill of Woodfill Law Firm PC.
The Texas Voters Lawsuit is Hotze, et al. v. Hollins, et al., Case No. 4:20-cv-03709, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.
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