JOIN USUS Supreme Court turns down request to allow all Texans to vote by mail
The Supreme Court said Friday it would not require Texas to let all eligible voters vote by mail.
The Texas Democratic Party and several voters had urged the court to reinstate a federal trial judge’s injunction requiring state officials to allow all voters, and not just those who are 65 or older, to submit their ballots by mail. They relied on the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18 and said the right to vote “shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of age.”
The court’s brief order gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices rule on emergency applications, and there were no noted dissents. Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a statement saying the question in the case raised “weighty but seemingly novel questions regarding the 26th Amendment.”
But she said the court was right not to address those questions in the context of an emergency application.
Voting by mail has been the focus of debate and litigation in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Five states will conduct the general election in November entirely by mail, and many others will allow all eligible voters to vote by mail.
Texas, on the other hand, generally requires voters to appear in person, but it makes exceptions for those away from home or in jail, those with disabilities and those who are 65 or older.
In May, Judge Fred Biery, of the US District Court in San Antonio, ruled that “any eligible Texas voter who seeks to vote by mail in order to avoid transmission of COVID-19 can apply for, receive and cast an absentee ballot in upcoming elections during the pendency of pandemic circumstances.”
The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, in New Orleans, blocked the injunction while an appeal moved forward.
The plaintiffs sought emergency relief in the Supreme Court, saying the 5th Circuit’s ruling “forces millions of Texas voters to either risk their health at the polls, twice, or relinquish their right to vote in the upcoming election season.”
The state’s primary runoff election, which was postponed in light of the pandemic, is scheduled to be held July 14. Biery’s ruling also applied to the general election in November.