AUSTIN, TX — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday continued his fight to block mail-in voting for the upcoming elections he suggests are ripe for voter fraud but seen as proponents as a needed measure in light of coronavirus-induced physical distancing requirements.
In his latest move, Paxton asked the Texas Supreme Court to immediately stay an order by the Court of Appeals for the Fourteenth Judicial District, which reinstated a Travis County District Court order allowing anyone in Travis County to vote by mail using special protections intended to aid only those with true disabilities or sicknesses.
“The Fourteenth Court correctly concluded that the trial court’s order was superseded, but it incorrectly allowed the order to go into effect anyway,” Paxton said in a prepared statement.
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In addition, Paxton filed a petition asking the Texas Supreme Court to uphold the state’s automatic right — guaranteed by the Texas Legislature, the attorney general asserted — to stay temporary injunctions from lower courts upon filing an appeal.
Read a copy of the filing for stay here
Read a copy of the petition here
Voting rights advocates have been pushing for expansion of mail-in voting at a time when people are adhering to physical distancing guidelines to help mitigate the potential spread of illness. Also on Monday, a coalition of voters and civil rights groups filed further litigation to secure the right to cast ballots with mail-in votes, adding to a slew of lawsuits toward that goal, as the Texas Tribune reported.
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Previous coverage: Coronavirus: Texas Attorney General Seeks To Block Mail-In Voting
Those pushing for expanded mail-in voting argue that existing rules could potentially deprive voters of their constitutional rights amid the ongoing public health crisis, as the Texas Tribune noted in its report. In a federal lawsuit filed in San Antonio, for example, Texas voters with medical conditions, Voto Latino, the NAACP-Texas and the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans argue that existing absentee voting rules will place undue burdens on the right to vote or risk disenfranchising Texans during the pandemic, the news outlet reported.