Republicans have prayed the courts to toss out about 127,000 early ballots cast by Texas voters in the Democratic-leaning Harris County. They argue that the voting pattern – made by drive-through – violates the US Constitution and should thereby be rendered invalid.
The case was brought by two Republican candidates, a GOP state representative, and a conservative activist. They argued that the drive-through mode of voting adopted by the county was an illegal extension of curbside voting explicitly made for the sick or physically-challenged voters, which is available at every county.
Texas strictly restricts mail-in voting. To make the voting process safer for voters, Democratic Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins established 10 drive-through voting locations where drivers can pull into a large tent, identify themselves and then vote. This process has been hugely popular since it was devised, NPR reports.
When the country raised the idea back in June, it was promptly approved by the Texas Secretary of State, Ruth Hughs. The Republicans did not contest the measure at that time but waited until now.
However, in an interview, the Democratic Harris County clerk, Chris Hollins, waved off the lawsuit and deemed it frivolous. He said the Republicans had devised an unscrupulous strategy of disenfranchising voters. He said it would be preemptive to say for whom the votes dropped so far have been cast. Therefore, the Republicans could yet be affected by their machinations.
The case has been brought before Judge Andrew Hanen in Houston. The judge has a public perception of being deeply conservative. The case will be heard on Monday, November 2. When a similar case was brought before it, the Supreme Court roundly rejected it. The US Supreme Court has ruled that the legislature does not have sole authority over elections. Therefore, different counties and state governments could improvise their voting procedures.
President Donald Trump and other members of the Republican Party have notoriously discredited efforts put up by state and local governments to enable voters to exercise their franchise, especially as the country faces a surge in the cases of coronavirus infections. Trump was particularly critical of mail-in voting, which he said allows for fraud. These claims have been countered by elections experts and observers who insist that election fraud is difficult to achieve in the history of US elections.
Hanen insisted that the lawsuit is baseless and will be thrown. However, he said that in the worst-case scenario where this doesn’t happen, there would be a need to encourage the same voters to be back at the polling unit to re-cast their votes.
Source: slate.com
