Two Texas election workers on Tuesday asked a federal court to block part of Texas’ new voting law, arguing its prohibition on “solicitation” of mail ballots is unconstitutional.
The plaintiffs — Harris County’s top elections official Isabel Longoria and Cathy Morgan, a volunteer deputy registrar in two other counties — are seeking an injunction after initially filing a lawsuit earlier this month that called the mail ballot solicitation provision “manifestly unconstitutional.” They are backed by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, a nonpartisan policy group that has tracked voting restrictions for a decade and previously challenged a voter ID law in Texas.
Republican lawmakers in the state fought with Democrats through multiple legislative sessions this year before ultimately passing a sweeping elections bill that included numerous restrictions on the voting process. One provision makes it a crime, punishable by imprisonment and a $10,000 fine, for election officials to “solicit” mail ballots.