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The
14th Court of Appeals ruled in a split 2-1 decision that it
would let stand a lower court's decision that fear of
contracting the coronavirus made a voter eligible to vote by
mail under state law.
The case was originally brought by the Democratic Party of
Texas, which is looking to expand the ability of voters to cast
ballots during the pandemic. The party hopes to continue gaining
ground on Republicans, who have held a lock on Texas politics
for decades.
U.S. President Donald Trump won the state by 9 percentage points
over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
But Democrats made gains in the 2018 midterm elections at the
state and federal congressional levels, and are confident that
if they could get more ballots counted they would win more
elections. Six Republican members of the U.S. House of
Representatives from Texas are retiring and their seats are up
for grabs in November.
Last month, Travis County Judge Tim Sulak ruled that mail-in
ballots should be allowed for voters who fear for their health
in the pandemic.
Sulak ruled that any voter could use a mail-in ballot at least
through July's primary run-off elections. Voting by mail in
Texas is allowed only if a citizen meets specific disability
guidelines that prevent them from physically going to the poll.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued for the state in the
case that "fear of contracting COVID-19 unaccompanied by a
qualifying sickness or physical condition does not constitute a
disability under the Election Code for purposes of receiving a
ballot by mail."
Paxton on Wednesday asked the state's Supreme Court to weigh in
within two weeks on the matter and order leaders in five Texas
counties to stop giving mail-in vote eligibility to voters
because of their fear of contracting the coronavirus.
Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa has said that
the chaotic April 7 election in Wisconsin, in which voters were
forced to risk health concerns to head to the polls, showed that
election rules must adjust to the realities of the pandemic.
At least 67 people are known to have become infected with the
coronavirus after voting or working at polls during the
Wisconsin election, according to the state's health department,
though a few of those may have been exposed elsewhere, officials
said.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks; Editing by Dan Grebler)
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