Texas Digs Itself Into a Deeper Hole on Excuses for Absentee Balloting

Why does Texas continue to try to discourage voting during the pandemic?

Texas has claimed that lack of immunity to COVID-19 is not a reason enough to vote by absentee. The technical argument is that it is not a “disability” under the relevant statute. (I analyze and explain why this is bad statutory interpretation here.) The issue is currently before the state supreme court.

And yet now Texas is encouraging curbside voting for anyone with COVID-like symptoms, viewing this as a disability to allow voting curbside:

To be sure, these are not exactly the same questions: one “disability” is about lack of immunity and about being contagious. But really why split hairs and not just let people vote the way they are safe and comfortable voting in a pandemic?

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