Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Unfettered voting by mail in Texas stopped by federal appeals court

Texas voters

Texas is among the very few states not making absentee voting easier during the pandemic. Turnout in places like San Antonio, above on primary day in March, is key to Democrats' hopes.

Edward A. Ornelas/Getty Images

A federal appeals court has joined the Texas Supreme Court in deciding that fear of exposure to the coronavirus is not an acceptable reason to vote by mail in the second most-populous state.

The back-to-back decisions, by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday and the state's highest court a week ago, end the possibility for Texans to legally cite a lack of immunity to the virus as a "disability" excuse in requesting an absentee ballot — at least for the July primary runoffs.

There is still a chance the U.S. Supreme Court will step in before the presidential election, when recent polling suggests the state could be genuinely competitive for the first time in four decades. It's also the case that vote-by-mail applications are on an honor system and people should be trusted to assess their own health, the state's top court has made clear.


The fight over making absentee balloting easier in Texas is highly significant to both voting rights groups and the Democrats.

Only 16 states require a precise excuse to use the system, and Texas is among just a handful that have not voluntarily relaxed those rules at least for primaries during the public health crisis. The Republicans who run the state assert widespread fraud would result. There's no solid evidence for the claim, and democracy reform groups see voter suppression as the real motive.

Only 7 percent used absentee ballots in 2018, when they were used by 25 percent of voters nationwide, and Democrats came within a whisker of winning a statewide race (Beto O'Rourke's bid for the Senate) for the first time in a quarter-century. The party is banking on a huge turnout in the cities and suburbs, where the fear of Covid-19 is greatest but the Latino and white-collar professional voting blocs have grown fast, to deliver the state's 38 electoral votes to Joe Biden.

But three judges on the 5th Circuit agreed Thursday to block a trial judge's order last month allowing all 16.2 million registered Texans to vote by mail during the pandemic.

Texans who are older than 65, away from home on election day or in jail may vote absentee — along with those who have a "sickness or physical condition," state law says, that prevents them from appearing at a polling place without the risk of "injuring the voter's health."

Last week the state Supreme Court ruled without dissent that, while lack of immunity alone does not meet that standard, it is up to voters to assess their own health and should not be challenged by county election administrators if they decide they meet the definition of disability.

GOP Attorney General Ken Paxton then pursued his parallel case in federal court, arguing that a late switch of the rules would cause confusion and open up the voting process to abuse — and was the state's decision to make, in any case. The 5th Circuit panel agreed and cited the U.S. Supreme Court's precedent that lower federal courts should "ordinarily not alter the election rules on the eve of an election."

The opinion was by Judge Jerry Smith, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan. He was joined by James Ho, an appointee of President Trump, and Gregg J. Costa, an appointee of President Barack Obama.

Paxton hailed their decisions as protecting a system designed "to aid those with an actual disability or illness." He did not explain why he supports the laws's elimination of excuse requirements for everyone 65 and older.

"The Constitution prohibits divvying up our rights by our age, gender, or race — and the 5th Circuit decision of today would allow voters of a certain age different voting rights than the rest of us," chairman Gilberto Hinojosa of the Texas Democratic Party, the plaintiff in the case, said in a statement vowing an appeal.

The last Republican to lose Texas was President Gerald Ford in 1976. But a Quinnipiac poll this week showed Trump, who carried the state by 9 points in 2016, in a statistical tie with Biden — and 6 in 10 voters supporting the availability of mail-in voting for everyone during the pandemic.

Four of the state Supreme Court justices who ruled against that idea are seeking re-election this fall.

July 2 is the last day to apply to vote absentee in runoffs 12 days later.

Read More

Defend Democracy Against Bombardments on the Elections Front –A Three-Part Series
Voted printed papers on white surface

Defend Democracy Against Bombardments on the Elections Front –A Three-Part Series

In Part 1, Pat Merloe examines the impact of the political environment, the necessity of constitutional defense against power-grabbing, and the detrimental effects of proof of citizenship on voting.

Part One: Bellicose Environment, Constitutional Infringements, and Disenfranchisement by Proof of Citizenship

The intense MAGA barrage against genuine elections, leading up to 2024’s voting, paused briefly after Election Day - not because there was diminished MAGA hostility towards typically trustworthy processes and results, but mainly because Donald Trump won. Much valuable work took place to protect last year’s polls, and much more will be needed as we head toward 2026, 2028, and beyond.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rear view diverse voters waiting for polling place to open
SDI Productions/Getty Images

Open Primaries Topic Creates a Major Tension for Independents

Open primaries create fine opportunities for citizens who are registered as independents or unaffiliated voters to vote for either Democrats or Republicans in primary elections, but they tacitly undermine the mission of those independents who are opposed to both major parties by luring them into establishment electoral politics. Indeed, independents who are tempted to support independent candidates or an independent political movement can be converted to advocates of our duopoly if their states have one form or another of Open Primaries.

Twenty U.S. states currently have Open Primaries for at least one political party at the presidential, congressional, and state levels, including Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin. At least 15 states conduct "semi-closed" primaries, a middle position in which unaffiliated voters still have an option to choose to vote in one of the major party primaries. 

Keep ReadingShow less
Voter registration
The national voter registration form is now available in 20 non-English languages, including three Native American languages.
SDI Productions

With Ranked Choice Voting in NYC, Women Win

As New York prepares to choose its next city council and mayor in primaries this week, it’s worth remembering that the road to gender equality in the nation’s largest city has been long and slow.

Before 2021, New York’s 51-member council had always been majority male. Women hadn’t even gotten close to a majority. The best showing had been 18 seats, just a tick above 35 percent.

Keep ReadingShow less
Independent Voters Just Got Power in Nevada – if the Governor Lets It Happen

"On Las Vegas Boulevard" sign.

Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash. Unplash+ license obtained by IVN Editor Shawn Griffiths.

Independent Voters Just Got Power in Nevada – if the Governor Lets It Happen

CARSON CITY, NEV. - A surprise last-minute bill to open primary elections to Nevada’s largest voting bloc, registered unaffiliated voters, moved quickly through the state legislature and was approved by a majority of lawmakers on the last day of the legislative session Monday.

The bill, AB597, allows voters not registered with a political party to pick between a Republican and Democratic primary ballot in future election cycles. It does not apply to the state’s presidential preference elections, which would remain closed to registered party members.

Keep ReadingShow less