The Texas Supreme Court ruled Tuesday the state's Republican governor may limit drop-off sites for election ballots, a political victory for President Donald Trump days before the Nov. 3 election.
The ruling reverses an appeals court decision Friday that said GOP Gov. Greg Abbott could not limit drop-off sites to one per county.
Nearly 8 million Texans had cast ballots as of Tuesday, approaching 90% of the entire 2016 vote – a higher percentage than any state in the country, according to the U.S. Elections Project at the University of Florida.
Texas voters must qualify to vote by mail by, for example, being older than 65, being ill or disabled, or not being present in their voting county during the early voting period through Election Day.
Abbott issued an order Oct. 1 that limited the drop-off sites, which voters and civil rights groups said created hurdles in voting access for the elderly, disabled, and people who lived in cities.
A Texas appeals court Friday ruled limits on the number of drop boxes would increase the risk voters could be infected with COVID-19 and would infringe on their right to vote.
Trump has repeatedly railed against mail ballots, saying they will lead to widespread fraud.
A Democrat candidate has not won the state of Texas in more than four decades, and Trump won there by nine percentage points in 2016.
But with simmering dissatisfaction over Trump's handling of the pandemic, opinion polls suggest Texas might be in reach for Democrat candidate Joe Biden.
Judge Tim Sulak said Oct. 15 that Abbott's limitation on ballot drop-off sites "would likely needlessly and unreasonably increase risks of exposure to COVID-19 infections, and needlessly and unreasonably substantially burden voters' constitutionally protected rights to vote."
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