Name: US judge blocks Abbott order limiting ballot drop-off locations
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US judge blocks Abbott order limiting ballot drop-off locations

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&nbsp;A federal judge issued an order Friday night barring enforcement of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Oct. 1 proclamation that limited counties to one mail-in ballot drop-off location.U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman said Abbott’s order placed an unacceptable burden on the voting rights of elderly and disabled Texans, who are most likely to request a mail-in ballot and to hand-deliver those ballots early to ensure that they are counted.These voters are also particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, the judge said."By limiting ballot return centers to one per county, older and disabled voters living in Texas’s largest and most populous counties must travel further distances to more crowded ballot return centers where they would be at an increased risk of being infected by the coronavirus in order to exercise their right to vote and have it counted," Pitman wrote."By forcing absentee voters to risk infection with a deadly disease to return their ballots in person or disenfranchisement if the (Postal Service) is unable to deliver their ballots in time, the October 1 Order imposes a burden on an already vulnerable voting population," he said.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office defended Abbott’s order, is likely to appeal the ruling.Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, said the ruling thwarted Abbott’s attempt at voter suppression."Judge Pitman’s common sense order followed well-established law and stopped the governor from making up election rules after the election started," Hinojosa said. "Frankly, it ought to be a shock to all of us that such a ruling is even required."Abbott’s order came the same day that Travis County opened four drop-off locations, requiring three to be shut down the following day and leaving only the site at 5501 Airport Boulevard operating last week.Civil and voting rights groups and several voters sued, leading to a two-hour hearing Thursday afternoon before Pitman.Arguing before the judge, lawyers for Abbott disputed claims that his order limited voting rights, saying the governor acted to expand opportunities and options for voters during the pandemic.Abbott’s first election-related order, issued July 27, added six days of early voting and suspended a state law that allows voters to hand-deliver mail-in ballots only on Election Day, lawyer Eric Hudson told the judge.In effect, Abbott gave voters almost 40 extra days to hand-deliver their ballots, Hudson argued, adding that on Oct. 1, Abbott clarified his earlier order by limiting counties to one drop-off location where poll watchers must be allowed to observe ballot deliveries by voters.But in his Friday ruling, Pitman said the order limiting drop-off locations subjected voters to unequal treatment if they lived in more heavily populated counties."This disparate treatment is evident in the increased distance, increased wait time, and increased potential for exposure to the coronavirus experienced by absentee voters living in larger, more populous counties," he wrote.Abbott’s "unilateral decision," the judged added, fueled an unacceptable amount of voter confusion, particularly because it came after voters had already begun receiving absentee ballots "and just days before the start of early voting" on Tuesday.Pitman also rejected Abbott’s argument that he was promoting election integrity, saying the order had the opposite affect because voters who hand-deliver their ballots must sign a register and show photo ID, steps they don’t take when sending a ballot by mail.

&nbsp;A federal judge issued an order Friday night barring enforcement of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Oct. 1 proclamation that limited counties to one mail-in ballot drop-off location.U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman said Abbott’s order placed an unacceptable burden on the voting rights of elderly and disabled Texans, who are most likely to request a mail-in ballot and to hand-deliver those ballots early to ensure that they are counted.These voters are also particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, the judge said."By limiting ballot return centers to one per county, older and disabled voters living in...

US judge blocks Abbott order limiting ballot drop-off locations

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