A Texas judge on Thursday struck down Gov. Greg Abbott’s order limiting ballot drop boxes to one per county, injecting more uncertainty into the battle over mail-in voting in the state.
Judge Tim Sulak, a state judge based in Austin, said Abbott’s order “would likely needlessly and unreasonably increase risks of exposure to COVID-19 infections” and “substantially burden potential voters’ constitutionally protected rights to vote, as a consequence of increased travel and delays, among other things.” The state lawsuit was brought by liberal-leaning groups in Texas.
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The impact of the ruling is unclear. Earlier this week, a federal appeals court upheld Abbott’s order. The state court ruling on Thursday is a separate case focused on state law.
The governor’s move has significantly affected the Democratic stronghold of Harris County, which is the state’s largest by population and one of the most populous in the country. Home to Houston, it covers a massive area that previously had 12 drop-off locations. Travis County, which includes the reliably Democratic city of Austin, must limit its four drop-off locations to one.
Elizabeth Lewis, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Clerk’s Office, told CNN that because of the ongoing legal wrangling, the county is not currently planning to reopen the 11 drop box locations it closed after Abbott’s one-box-per-county order went into effect earlier this month. The office will continue to focus on the sole location at NRG Stadium in Houston, Lewis said.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton quickly filed a notice of appeal on Thursday, and said the appeal would pause the new ruling. Abbott and Paxton, both Republicans, have defended Texas’ mail-in voting laws, which are among the most restrictive in the country.
The issue has bounced between opposing courts for several weeks. The appeals court victory for the governor came after Paxton had filed an emergency motion for a stay pending appeal to a district court order that would have allowed county officials to accept hand delivery of mail-in ballots at any county annex or satellite office.
Early voting began in Texas on Tuesday with lines and hours-long wait times for thousands of voters at some locations. In Harris County, 50,000 votes had been cast by noon local time, according to a tweet from the county clerk. Wait times exceeded 40 minutes in several locations in the county, including the Rice University football stadium in Houston.
CNN’s Devan Cole, Kay Jones, Rebekah Riess, Hollie Silverman and Madeline Holcombe contributed to this report.